‘Baby Holly’ who vanished when her parents were murdered in 1980 is found alive 40 years later
A woman who vanished as an infant when her parents were murdered in Texas in 1980 has been found alive more than 40 years later.
The youngster, who was known as “Baby Holly”, vanished after Tina Gail Linn Clouse and Harold Dean Clouse Jr were found slain in a wooded area of Houston.
Now the 42-year-old woman, who is still called Holly, has been identified using DNA technology and was recently reunited with her family, according to officials.
Investigators found Holly, who was adopted by a couple, at her workplace earlier this week and told her of her identity, and hours later she was on a Zoom call with her biological grandmother and aunts and uncles.
Holly Marie Clouse and her parents Tina, 17, and Harold, 21, disappeared in Texas in 1980 after moving to the state from Florida.
Investigators found remains of the murdered couple in 1981, but their identities remained a mystery until 2021 their bodies were exhumed and identified using genetic genealogy done by Identifinders International.
Dean, who was a carpenter, was beaten to death, while Tina had been strangled.
Holly’s biological paternal grandmother, Donna Casasanta, said that she had been located on the birthday of her murdered son, and called it “a birthday present from heaven.”
“I prayed for more than 40 years for answers and the Lord has revealed some of it… we have found Holly,” Ms Casasanta said.
Her aunt, Sherry Linn Green, welcomed being reunited with Holly.
“After finally being able to reunite with Holly, I dreamed about her and my sister, Tina last night,” she said in a statement.
“In my dream, Tina was laying on the floor rolling around and laughing and playing with Holly like I saw them do many times before when they lived with me prior to moving to Texas.
“I believe Tina’s finally resting in peace knowing Holly is reuniting with her family. I personally am so relieved to know Holly is alive and well and was well cared for, but also torn up by it all. That baby was her life.”
Officials have not released details on how they found Holly, how she survived the murder or how she came to be adopted.
The discovery of Holly was announced on Thursday by the Texas Attorney General’s office.
“I am extremely proud of the exceptional work done by my office’s newly formed Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit,” Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement.
“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.”
The two genetic genealogists who first worked the case and helped make the breakthrough, say they cannot believe how much Holly looks like her mother.
“I cried during the whole thing,” Misty Gillis, the Identifinders contractor who worked on the case last year, told The Houston Chronicle.
