Swimmer Missing One Week Later

For the seventh day, family and friends of Holly Nelson watched the rippling waters of Percy Priest Lake.


Last Sunday, the 25-year-old went on a boating excursion with a group of co-workers from Nashville Business Consulting. On the way back to Elm Hill Marina, they noticed she was missing. She has not been seen since.

"Basically, it's been a steady procedure of scanning the water, looking for objects of interest, things that indicate (it) may be Holly," said her father, Corliss Nelson.
Corliss has watched as rescue boats and divers have gone into the water and come back with no sign of his daughter.
Holly was a recent graduate of Middle Tennessee State University. She was devoted to her faith and engaged to be married in the spring, her family said.
Despite the days and hours that have passed since her disappearance, Holly's father is hopeful for happy news -- news he knows may never come.
"It's been a good thing that there's been several days that go by, because it kind of allows us for things to sink in gradually about the seriousness of it," he said.

In the last week, Holly's family has taken comfort in the welcoming arms and kind words of familiar faces and even strangers along the shoreline. They have also found peace in Holly's faith.
"We feel that she is with God," Corliss said. "If she's not with us, then she's with God. And we're thankful for that."
Anyone on the lake Sunday evening who may have seen Holly is urged to contact the Emergency Communications Center at 615-862-8600.