An Oklahoma woman has been identified as a child who made headlines four decades ago when she vanished without a trace during her parents’ horrific 1981 murder in Texas, the Lone Star state’s attorney general’s office said Thursday.
The infant known as “Baby Holly” is now a 42-year-old woman who has been able to reconnect with her biological family thanks to DNA tracing that made the connection, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office said in a press release.
“Finding Holly is a birthday present from heaven since we found her on (father’s) birthday,” said Holly’s biological grandmother Donna Casasanta. “I prayed for more than 40 years for answers and the Lord has revealed some of it … we have found Holly.”
Authorities had been searching for Baby Holly since her parents went missing in 1980. Two bodies, believed to be her parents, were found in a wooded area in Houston, however, the bodies could not be identified at the time.
Tina Gail Linn Clouse and Harold Dean Clouse Jr. had moved from Florida to Texas shortly before they disappeared, along with their infant daughter, Holly. When the two bodies were found, the baby was missing.
Decades passed before Identifinders International was able to use genetic genealogy in 2021 to positively identify the bodies that were found as the Clouses. Dean was beaten to death and Tina was strangled, according to the Houston Chronicle.
The couple’s families were notified about the positive ID last year and began searching for Holly.
Investigators visited Holly’s workplace on Tuesday in Oklahoma and told her the news, reports the Houston Chronicle.
Holly was raised by a family who adopted her and has already met her biological relatives. It was not clear who took Holly after the killings and how she wound up in the care of the adopted family. Holly’s current identity was also not revealed.
“It was so exciting to see Holly. I was so happy to meet her for the first time. 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,” said Cheryl Clouse, Holly’s aunt.
The investigation into Holly’s biological parents’ murders is ongoing, and the Texas attorney general’s office is asking anyone with information to contact its Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit at [email protected] .
The Texas Attorney General’s office will hold a press conference on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. CT about this case.
