“Baby Holly”, who went missing when her parents were murdered forty-two years ago, has been found alive.
Brent Webster, a Texas First Assistant Attorney General, spoke about the case, as reported by ABC News.
“In 1981, 2 deceased individuals were discovered in the wooden area of Euston, Texas. Their identities could not be determined at that time. What law enforcement did know, is that they were likely murdered. Decades later, in 2021, the organization Identifiers International was able to positively identify the bodies that were found in 1981 through the use of genetic testing,” Webster said in a statement.
“The couple was from Florida and their names were Tina Gail Linn Clouse and Howard Dean Clouse Jr,” he continued.
“They were a young couple. We learned this couple had an infant daughter named Holly, who was not found with the remains of the Clouses. And so the search for baby Holly began.”
The family surrounding the murdered couple has been searching for Holly since 1980. But they had also been searching for answers as to what happened to the parents of baby Holly, too.
So, what happened to baby Holly?
Well, the child was left in a church. 2 women were responsible for bringing the young child to the church, and they were part of a nomadic religious group who believe men and women should be separated, sustained from eating meat, and avoided using or wearing leather.
Webster said in his statement that “the family who raised Holly are not suspects in this case.”
But, as noted by Webster, the families of baby Holly and her parents received a phone call from somebody around the time of the couple’s murder. The woman on the other end of the phone reportedly identified herself as Sister Susan.
The woman said that the Clouses had joined their religious group and didn’t want to keep in touch with their family anymore, also noting they wanted to get rid of their possessions, asking that the family collect their car in exchange for money.
According to the news outlet, once Holly’s family told the police after agreeing to meet the group to exchange their money for the car, the police officers took the women into custody once they had met up with the family. There isn’t, however, a police report that has been found to document this.
Although the murder investigation is still ongoing…
Holly, who is now forty-two years old, met with her family through a virtual call on Tuesday for the first time since her disappearance.
Donna Casasanta, her grandmother, was overjoyed: “I prayed for more than 40 years for answers and the Lord has revealed some of it,” she said, as per ABC.
“It is such a blessing to be reassured that she is alright and has had a good life. The whole family slept well last night,” her aunt, Cheryl Clouse said.
Less Linn, baby Holly’s uncle, said that he actually met the now forty-two-year-old woman.
“To go from hoping to find her to suddenly meeting her less than 8 months later how miraculous is that?” he said. “All of the detectives involved… They all expressed such fortitude to get to the bottom of this case,” he continued.
“We are thrilled that Holly will now have the chance to connect with her biological family who has been searching for her for so long,” John Bischoff, the Vice President of the missing children division at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said.
“We hope that this is a source of encouragement for other families who have missing loved ones and reminds us all to never give up,” he continued.
Holly now has a new identity…
But it will not be revealed in order to respect her privacy.
We cannot imagine how relieved Holly’s family must be feeling right now.
We’re so happy Holly was finally reunited after forty-two years.