Man connected to Holly Bobo case dead in apparent suicide

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A man involved in an immunity dispute in the case of slain Tennessee nursing student Holly Bobo has been found dead in an apparent suicide, reports CBS affiliate WTVF. 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.

Zach Adams and Jason Autry have both pleaded not guilty to kidnapping and murder in the case. Adam's brother Dylan has been indicted on two counts of rape, and has pleaded not guilty.

Austin had been granted immunity in exchange for his cooperation in the case, including from "all charges arising out of the disposal, destruction, burial, and/or concealment of Holly Bobo's deceased body."

However, prosecutors later revoked the agreement, saying Austin wasn't truthful with them. Austin was in the process of suing the state at the time of his death, reports the station.

"Mr. Austin maintained his innocence throughout the investigation," Evans told The Los Angeles Times Monday evening. "The state came out and made the baseless allegations they did against Mr. Austin, and he lived with the cloud of those baseless allegations over him. It would have taken a toll on anybody."

He told the paper Austin's family is "absolutely devastated at the loss of their son."

Bobo was 20 when she disappeared from her family's home near Parsons, Tennessee in April 2011. Her partial remains were discovered in September 2014 in a wooded area of Decatur County.