In September 2014, Bobo's partial remains were found in northern Decatur County, and her death was ruled a homicide via a gunshot to the back of the head.

The case has met with several setbacks, such as the death of a suspect, multiple changes to the prosecutorial team, and disputes with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI).

[16] Autry chose to make a plea bargain with prosecutors, wherein he would testify against Zach in exchange for a significantly reduced sentence.

On September 16, 2020, after accepting a deal that reduced his sentence to eight years of time served, Autry was released from Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.

[31][32] In September 2014, Bobo's partial remains were found by ginseng hunters in a wooded area of northern Decatur County, Tennessee, just off I-40, nearly 20 miles (32 km) from Darden.

[41] It is unclear what initially led law enforcement to suspect these men, but the investigation began with the arrest of Dylan Adams on unrelated weapons charges.

Dylan reportedly "observed Holly Lynn Bobo sitting in a green chair in the living room wearing a pink t-shirt, with Jason Wayne Autry standing just a few feet away."

He also told police Zach was "wearing camouflage shorts, black cut-off-sleeve t-shirt and a pair of green Crocs".

The district attorney released a statement saying that Austin had "not been completely truthful, candid, forthcoming or cooperative as to any and all aspects of [the] investigation".

[51][52][53][54] Austin's attorney blamed the suicide on continual threats of prosecution as well as investigators' "witch hunt" style, saying they relied on rumors instead of evidence.

[57] Charges against both men were subsequently dropped, and the narrative described at Zach Adams's trial did not include any mention of involvement by the Pearcy brothers.

[59] Jason Autry, the state's key witness, testified to a series of events that was drastically different from those in Dylan Adams' confession.

[60][61] Autry said that in the back of his truck, Zach Adams had a body that was wrapped in a multi-colored blanket and that Austin was disposing of evidence in a burn barrel.

They drove to a spot along the Tennessee River underneath the Interstate 40 bridge with plans to "gut" the body so that it would not float in the water.

[65] The prosecution also presented other pieces of circumstantial evidence linking Zach Adams to the murder, including that he drove a white truck.

[69] A local man, Victor Dinsmore, led police to the gun, claiming that Austin and Autry sold him the weapon in exchange for drugs.

[16] Despite confessions from Autry, Austin, and Dylan Adams, all men arrested for the crime have vehemently denied involvement in the disappearance at some point and have accused the state of coercive tactics.

[44] The family of Dylan Adams, who is mentally disabled, claimed that "[T]hey kept him up all night, would not give him anything to eat or drink and finally he said, 'What do you want me to say?

The prosecutor, who was also handling the Bobo case, arranged a no-jail plea deal on the condition that he go live with a retired police officer, Dennis Benjamin, whom Dylan did not know.

He's like, 'OK, if that's what you said, OK.'"[75] Jeffrey Pearcy also claims that King fabricated statements regarding his involvement to assist her son, who is serving a long prison sentence.

He told the jury that he ruled the men out early in the case because Austin passed a polygraph, their alibis checked out, and cell phone records put Zach Adams and Holly Bobo several miles apart during the critical timeframe.

[78] Dicus also noted that for Autry's story to fit with the cell phone pings, the men would have had to drive 106 miles per hour, an unlikely scenario on the winding gravel roads they traveled.

[79] The defense also noted that all four men had been ruled out as the originator of a palm print found on Holly's car, while another suspect, Terry Britt, could not be excluded.

[80] Jason Autry later recanted his testimony against Adams, claiming he had repeated his day and "added Holly to it" in an attempt to get out of prison.

Marshals Service senior inspector testified that at one point, Britt said, "Sounds like you have it all figured out," and said he would "plead to it", but did not clarify specific charges or conditions for a plea deal.

[84] The criminal case against the men charged has been met with strong criticism and conflict between members of the prosecution, complicating the investigation.

For example, in 2014, DA Matt Stowe made a statement that because Holly was menstruating at the time of her abduction, there was a lot of DNA evidence in Zachary Adams's Decatur County home.

[87] On December 17, 2014, nine months after Zach Adams's arrest, Judge Creed McGinley chastised prosecutors for delays in the case and for the state's failure to turn over evidence to the defense.

Judge McGinley ordered that a bill of particulars be filed for Zachary Adams's case within seven days and that discovery take place immediately.

[98] On September 29, 2017, the ABC Network aired an investigative journalism segment, "Justice for Holly Bobo", on its prime-time television program 20/20.