Holly Bobo Trial Update: Man Who Found Remains Testifies

The trial for the man accused of killing Holly Bobo continued into its third day Wednesday, bringing testimony from a number of witnesses, including the man who found Bobo’s remains. A series of witnesses appeared in court to detail finding items that belonged to Bobo in the ensuing search for the 20-year-old.

Thirty three-year-old Zach Adams was on trial for the kidnapping, rape and murder of Bobo, who went missing from her family’s Tennessee home in 2011. Her remains, however, were not found until three years later. Larry Stone, a ginseng hunter, stumbled upon her skull in 2014 when looking for ginseng in the woods. Stone initially thought the object was an upside down bucket before turning it over and realizing it was a skull. He alerted his cousin who was hunting with him in the forest, Stone testified Wednesday.

“I said, ‘I found remains, get up here now,’” Stone recalled. “I started bawling, ‘Please tell me it’s not real.’ I said, ‘I think I know who this could be.’ I said, ‘I think its Holly.’”

Other witnesses were called to the stand to testify about finding some of Bobo’s belongings. Gerald Stephens recalled finding an article of clothing in the area where Bobo went missing.

“It was a garment that was pink in color,” Stephens said. “It was a pair of pink panties.”

John Graces found Bobo’s lunch box in a nearby creek. The day after Bobo vanished, Graces searched the barns on his property to see whether there was any sign of her. In a wooded area near one of the barns, Graves recalled stumbling up a lunchbox. Bobo’s mother, Karen Bobo, had identified the lunchbox in question in court Monday.

“It was something that just didn’t belong,” said Graves. “I saw something polka dotted like a lunchbox or something laying there. It had a sandwich inside it and something else. When I flipped it over it had an embroidered H on it as best I remember.”

Suzanne Pratt, who found Bobo’s phone, also testified Wednesday. Dennis McKenzie, Bobo’s father’s boss, appeared on the stand as well, detailing how he took part in the search for Bobo after she went missing. McKenzie volunteered to monitor Zach Adams alongside Tennessee Highway Patrolman Warren Rainey and saw Adams cleaning mattresses leaning against his home, making the men suspicious.

“I don’t know why you’d leave a mattress like that outside,” Rainey said.

Adams himself pleaded not guilty to all the charges. His lawyer seized upon a lack of forensic evidence in the case, insisting Adams was innocent. Should he be convicted, Adams could face the death penalty.