Florida police: Man thought to be witness in Holly Bobo case found hanged in apparent suicide

February 26, 2015 at 8:35 p.m. | Updated February 27, 2015 at 5:48 a.m.

by Associated Press

In this 2014 file photo, a poster with pictures of missing Tennessee nursing student Holly Bobo hangs on a fence in front of her house in Parsons, Tenn.
In this 2014 file photo, a poster with pictures of missing Tennessee nursing student Holly Bobo hangs on a fence in front of her house in Parsons, Tenn.
photo Shayne Austin
MEMPHIS -- A man once thought to be a witness in a Tennessee nursing student's murder case has been found dead in an apparent suicide in Florida, police said Thursday.

The body of Shayne Austin was found in a hotel room in Bartow, Florida, on Monday, said Sgt. Eric Sherouse, a detective with the Bartow police department. Sherouse said Austin was hanged.

Sherouse said evidence points to Austin committing suicide. An autopsy will determine the official cause of death.

Austin had been battling over an immunity agreement in the investigation into the kidnapping and murder of Holly Bobo. She was 20 when she was reported missing in April 2011. Authorities say her skull was found in September in the woods of rural Decatur County, not far from her West Tennessee home.

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