4/16/2011:
John Mehr:
"We believe with what we know, and I'll tell you, he actually had her by the arm, holding her, and so we feel that she knew she was in fear of her life, and so she was complying with his demands."
Mehr:
"We did find a lunch purse that was dropped."
reporter introduces Lt, and asks him to dispel rumors from the day before:
Lt. Brad Willbanks:
"Well, uh, right, of course our goal is to find Holly. Agent mehr with TBI was able to put to rest the rumors about, and maybe change the wording, I think the word dragged was, might could have been, I think the word led should have been used. Had a lot of misconceptions out, the brother, the boyfriend, just that kind of things, and I'm glad to see Agent Mehr was able to do that, so it put the county at a little more rest."
Reporter reiterates that brother and bf have been cleared, asks about the lunch box:
Willbanks:
"Uh, it's positive identification, and as Agent Mehr alluded to, it's a clue, uh, they're analyzing all, all their center now."
Reporter asks about report of blood in driveway:
Willbanks:
""Yes, yesterday, in a press conference, Agent Mehr was able to confirm that there was an area of blood found outside, outside the door there."
Reporter asks about the duct tape that their cameras filmed the discovery of and if it was a lead:
Willbanks:
"Well, you can imagine the, the number of people we had out yesterday. They found several things, identified it, bagged it, the authorities carried it back to TBI. They went through several things during the night. Agent Mehr may allude to that today or tomorrow, uh, to their findings of it."
Reporter comments on how extraordinary the support for the family is:
Willbanks:
"Absolutely. And of course, I see things on TV; tornadoes hit different towns and they come together and that's a good thing to see, but yesterday I learned a new meaning why they call Tennessee the volunteer state.
Mehr said investigators "did not see drag marks." He added she was "not forcefully dragged and she's like any other victim, maybe complying with her attacker, but she walked into the woods".
Her brother, said Mehr, "had reasons to believe [the man] was not an attacker..."
"There is not a person of interest at this time," he said.
"Folks, this is getting good now. Things are happening fast," a state investigator told a crowd of volunteers at the makeshift staging ground in Parsons. (I won't even make personal comment as to how insensitive I feel that statement is.)
"It's very possible that he could have known her, could have known her daily routine. We're following up on everything we possibly can," said Decatur County Sheriff Roy Wyatt.
"As long as we keep our faith that she is alive."
http://abcnews.go.com/US/holly-bobo...rge-search-continues/story?id=13389409&page=2