'Baby Holly' found alive 40 years after parents' murders
HOUSTON (TND) — The story starts 40 years earlier. Two bodies were found in a rural wooded area near Houston, Texas on Jan. 12, 1981. At the time, their bodies could not be identified.
Fast forward to 2021, through advanced DNA testing, authorities were able to positively identify the bodies found 40 years prior as Tina Clouse and Harold "Junior" Clouse.
At the time of their deaths, the Florida couple had an infant daughter but baby Holly Marie Clouse's remains were not found with her parents.
A news release from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office said the Linn and Clouse families have been searching for answers since they last heard from the young family in 1980.
When Tina and Dean's families learned the couple's remains had been found and identified, they started looking for answers to their next question: What happened to baby Holly?
Paxton said Holly, who is now a mother of five, has been located "alive and well" and is 42 years old. She now knows who her biological parents were and has been in touch with her extended family members.
Finding Holly is a birthday present from heaven since we found her on Junior’s birthday," Donna Casasanta, Holly’s grandmother, said. "I prayed for more than 40 years for answers and the Lord has revealed some of it ... we have found Holly.Sherry Green, Holly's aunt, dreamed of her sister Tina after meeting her long-lost niece in a recent video meeting.
“I believe Tina is finally resting in peace knowing Holly is reuniting with her family,” Green said.
The investigation into the murders of Holly’s biological parents is ongoing and if anyone has information about their deaths, please contact the Texas Attorney General’s Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit at coldcaseunit@oag.texas.gov.
KHOU reported additional information about Holly’s childhood and separation from her parents is not available at this time because of the sensitive nature of the ongoing criminal investigation.
“I am extremely proud of the exceptional work done by my office’s newly formed Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit," Paxton said. "My office diligently worked across state lines to uncover the mystery surrounding Holly’s disappearance. We were successful in our efforts to locate her and reunite her with her biological family."
Several organizations worked in partnership to bring a close to the cold case, including the Texas Attorney General’s Office Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit, the Lewisville Police Department, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office in Florida, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
ncG1vNJzZmivmpawtcKNnKamZ56axLR7zZqroqeeYsSwvsudZpqtpJ28s7XTopysZZaeu6V5wZqZsmWYpLmtxYyao6KulWKBcXnYnpirq12Ws7Wx0WanmqqVo8G0ecyuqZ2doqh6qbvUrKuopl2psrmt0maprqqRoXq4u86dnJ1lkaeyonnArauoqp6axm6zxKecq5mcYrimuoypmLGsn6N6pLvLnWScmaOaeq610qygp59dpbKzv86nqmatnp7BbrXNr5ysrJmcrrW1zqdkm6GfobyotcKao2aekaK2rcU%3D