Holly Bobo's alleged killer tied to previous abduction try?
CENTERVILLE, Tenn. - In January 2011, three months before Tennessee nursing student Holly Bobo disappeared, another Tennessee woman claims a man who matches the description of Bobo's alleged killer tried to grab her off her front porch, reports CBS affiliate WTVF.
Officials with the Centerville Police Department said Heather Sullivan reported a tall, skinny white male with dark hair tried to grab her as she walked out of her home around 5:30 a.m. January 23, 2011.
Police said Sullivan screamed and the man took off on foot. To this day, her case remains unsolved.
Sources told WTVF when Zachary Adams, 29, was charged Wednesday with the kidnapping and murder of Bobo, Sullivan identified Adams as the man who tried to kidnap her.
In April 2011, following Bobo's disappearance, Sullivan told NBC's Today Show she had suspicions that Bobo's abductor might be the same person.
She did not return multiple requests by WTVF for comment.
Adams is being held at the Chester County Jail without bond on charges of especially aggravated kidnapping and first-degree felony murder. He was initially arrested on Feb. 28 on an unrelated assault charge as his home was searched in connection with the Bobo case.
In the unrelated case he is accused of holding a gun to a woman's head at his home on Feb. 6 and threatening to "gut" her with a knife, reports WTVF.
Adams was also arrested on Feb. 26 on a meth possession charge, the Tennessean newspaper reports.
But, according to the paper, Adams' criminal record stretches back way further than that. In 2004, the paper says, Adams was accused of shooting his mother in the knee.
An order of protection filed by Adams' mother and stepfather at the time called him a "danger to us and the community," the Tennessean reports.
"We are in fear of our lives," the order continued.
Adams reportedly pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in that case and was sentenced to 11 months and 29 days in jail, which was suspended except for six months which he was allowed to serve in a rehabilitation facility.
In 2005, Adams was in trouble with the law again when he allegedly threatened to shoot his grandparents with a shotgun, the paper reports, citing an affidavit.
Bobo disappeared from her home in Parsons, Tenn., about 110 miles southwest of Nashville, in April 2011. Her brother told police he saw a man in camouflage leading her into the woods surrounding the family home.
Investigators would not comment Wednesday on what led to the charges against Adams, but at least two vehicles were reportedly towed away from his property last week and a cadaver dog was brought in to aid in the search of his property. Officials would not say whether Bobo's body has been located.
Adams' property in Decatur County is about 15 miles from Bobo's home but Cindy Adams, Zachary's mother, has said the two did not run in the same circles.
She did, however, say that Bobo's mother, Karen, was her son Zachary's elementary school teacher.
Authorities say they have not ruled out other arrests in the case.
