Prosecutors on Monday decided to dismiss domestic violence charges against Panthers star Greg Hardy in part because ex-girlfriend Nicole Holder, the alleged victim, spent the last three months evading their efforts to contact her.
A social media paper trail suggests that she was everywhere but where the District Attorney's office thought.
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Since November, Holder posted photos and updates to her Facebook account, showing her snowmobiling in Colorado, shopping in Atlanta and touring New York’s Grand Central Station, according to the Charlotte Observer.
Hardy, who made $13.1 million last year while on the commissioner's exempt list, agreed to pay an undisclosed financial settlement to Holder, according to prosecutors.
District Attorney Andrew Murray said in court Monday that police went to "extraordinary measures" to gain Holder's cooperation, including placing surveillance at her last known address and making repeated calls to family members. But the former cocktail waitress intentionally evaded their efforts, Murray said, presumably because of her civil settlement with Hardy.
Holder's Facebook account placed her in Vail, Colo., on Dec. 8, when she posted about having dinner and snowmobiling. On Dec. 22, she was shopping at Lenox Mall in Atlanta, and the next day posted a photo of her in New York City.
During Hardy's initial trial over the summer, there was doubt that Holder would take the stand. She ultimately showed up and testified. But after Hardy appealed for a jury trial, the prosecution lost contact with Holder.
Hardy, his attorneys and Holder's civil lawyer all declined comment Monday.
