Medical Examiners Confirm Recovery Of Missing Nursing Student Holly Bobo’s Body

Medical examiners have confirmed that the body of Holly Bobo — the missing nursing student authorities have sought for more than three years — was found in Decatur County, Tennessee earlier this week, according to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director Mark Gwyn.

Bobo was last seen April 13, 2011 in Darden, Tenn., with both authorities and volunteers helping scour the nearby rural areas to find her, to no avail. At the time, her brother said he’d seen a man in camouflage taking her into the area.

The vanishing of Bobo — who was clad in a pink shirt with a matching purse when she was last seen alive — triggered a community awareness campaign centered around pink ribbons.

A man named Zachary Adams has pleaded not guilty in the woman’s kidnapping and murder; on Sunday, a human skull was retrieved from a residence close to his home. Jason Autry, another suspect in the murder-kidnapping, has pleaded not guilty as well, while a pair of brothers, Jeffrey Kurt and Mark Pearcy, have pleaded not guilty to tampering with evidence and being an accessory after the fact.

"We are going to make sure that everyone who played a part in the heinous crime, that has attacked the peace, and dignity of the state of Tennessee faces a consequence for that."

The lawyer for the victim’s family, Steve Farese, said they’ve done their best to stay patient in waiting for results.

"You can imagine the emotional roller coaster that they've been on," he said.

Gwyn said the investigation — longest and most thorough in the state agency’s history — will continue.