More than six years ago, a Tennessee woman disappeared without a trace and then her remains were discovered in 2014.
This week, prosecutors revealed that Holly Bobo, who was aged 20 on April 13, 2011, the day she went missing, was shot before she died, NewsChannel5 reported.
Experts found an indentation in Bobo’s skull consistent with that of a bullet wound, according to the prosecutors in during a Hardin County court hearing.
Judge C. Creed McGinley also said the trial was to start on Sept. 11, 2017, while denying a motion to delay the trial. The state has apparently called 200 witnesses to the trial, but the judge said that those in attendance cannot wear T-shirts with the words “Justice for Holly,” which became synonymous with her disappearance.
Zach Adams will be one of three defendants to face trial in her murder. Bobo was found dead near Adams’s home in West Tennessee, according to reports. And prosecutors will be looking at the death penalty for Adams.
Adams has denied the charges, with his attorney stating that there is no DNA evidence linking him to Bobo’s death.
“They would have found DNA in that house,” Adams attorney Jennifer Thompson told WMC-TV in May. “They would have found hair in that house. They would have found a fingernail. They would have found something that placed Holly in that house. There’s no chemical cleanup in that house. There’s nothing that ever indicated Holly has been in that house.”
Last month, officials said that a gun discovered on Memorial Day weekend was linked to her death, describing it as a “crucial piece of evidence.”
“We are anticipating that we’re going to get an expert,” Thompson said of the gun, reported The Jackson Sun. “At this point, we don’t have the gun.”
Two other men, Dylan Adams and Jason Autry, were charged in Bobo’s death.
All three suspects were charged with premeditated murder and murder in the perpetration of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated rape.
Dylan and Zach Adams, who are brothers, have said they are innocent in Bobo’s death. But Autry, meanwhile, gave a statement to authorities in January, saying he partook in Bobo’s murder, Fox News reported.
“We’ve been ready for six years,” the Bobo family’s Pastor Don Franks said, ABC’s WBBJ7 network reported. “I think it’s very important, and the judge made a good point,” he said regarding the jury selection that will start days before the trial starts.
“We don’t want anything to interfere with a fair trial and a just trial,” he said.
According to Newschannel5, a few jurors have been released for their death penalty beliefs. The final jury selection is slated for Sept. 9.
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Parents Release Last Texts Woman Sent Before Strange Disappearance
Police in Jacksonville, Fla., are searching for a missing woman whose parents said she disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
The parents of 21-year-old Savannah Gold said they last saw her as she headed out to work at Bonefish Grill on San Jose Boulevard in Mandarin. But she never made it to her shift.
Around 6:30 p.m., the woman’s mother received an odd text message from her saying that she met someone and was taking off.
“But the spelling was all whacked out. It looked really strange,” Daniel Gold, Savannah’s father, said.
The text message was as follows, with spelling from the original:
“Hey i just anted to tell you and mom i met a really great guy and were running away together i love him and were leaving toight ill call you later when we get t where we are gng.”
According to the woman’s relatives, the spelling in the message is unlike her. The woman’s brother also received a similar oddly worded text message.
“Heyi quit im leavingwith me boyfriend i cant do this (expletive) anymore im fine justwant to get away.”
Gold’s car was found with a slashed tire in the parking lot of the Bonefish Grill. Surveillance video shows the car pulling into the restaurant parking lot at 5:30 p.m. The car was left unlocked and the woman’s purse, with her ID, credit cards, and money, was found inside.
“That really got us concerned,” the father told Action News Jax.
Police tried to use the woman’s phone to locate her, but the phone appeared to be turned off.
Investigators searched the homes of two of the woman’s friends, with their permission, but did not find her. Gold has also not been active on social media since she disappeared.
“She has not met any boy. And if anybody would know, it would be me or her mom,” Gold’s best friend Virjona Gjuraj said.
Gold’s coworkers told Action News Jax that this is unlike Savannah.
“She’s a pretty consistent person. She always shows up for her shifts,” coworker Rachel Quackenbush said. “She never calls out. It’s just a really sketchy situation.”
Gold’s father said that she lives at home and comes and goes as she likes. He just wants to know where she is.
“I want to know where she is. That’s all. She’s a grown woman. She’s 21 years old. She can go anywhere she wants to go. I want to be able to talk to her cause I love her. I want to be able to make sure she’s OK,” her father said.
Savannah’s Gold’s friend told JSO that he thought she was changing a tire before she went into work.
