AUSTIN, Texas – A decades-long search by a Florida woman and her extended family for an unsolved murder case has resulted in the woman finally finding her missing granddaughter, who has now grown up without prior knowledge of its tragic history, officials said Thursday.
Meanwhile, the mystery behind who brutally killed the girl’s parents more than 40 years ago remains unresolved and Texas authorities are asking for the public’s help.
Harold Dean Clouse Jr., Tina Linn Clouse and her young daughter had disappeared in October 1980, shortly after the young family moved from New Smyrna Beach, Florida, to the Dallas suburb of Lewisville, Texas, according to the Office. of the Texas Attorney General.
In January 1981, in a rural area of eastern Houston, a dog that returned home with a broken human arm in its mouth prompted a police search to locate the remains of an unidentified couple, it was reported. the Houston Chronicle. The Harris County Forensic Bureau said the man had been beaten to death while the woman had been strangled.
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The couple remained unidentified until last October, when a group of genetic genealogists working with law enforcement tested the remains and identified them as the Clouse couple, said First Deputy Attorney General Brent Webster. at a press conference Thursday afternoon in Austin, Texas. But no trace of her granddaughter, known to them as Holly Marie Clouse, was found with the remains of her parents.
Webster did not answer questions during Thursday’s press conference, but asked for public assistance in resolving the homicide cases. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is running for re-election, did not attend.
As for the missing baby, it wasn’t until Tuesday, when modern technology brought researchers back to work, that the 42-year-old woman learned of her biological family and tragic background. Before that, all she knew was that she had been adopted and raised by an Oklahoma family who had adopted her.
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The girl’s adoptive family is not suspected of her disappearance or the death of her parents, Webster said. He refused to provide his identities or how the child is identified today.
Hours after the shocking revelation, the Oklahoma woman was introduced to her grandmother, aunts and uncles during a Zoom call. He told them he had been married for more than 20 years and had five children and two grandchildren, the Chronicle reported.
But many questions remain, including who killed the Clouses.
At one point, two women left the child in an Arizona church and cared for her, Webster said.
“Two women who identified themselves as members of a nomadic religious group took (the child) to church. They wore white robes and went barefoot. They indicated that the beliefs of their religion included the separation of male and female limbs, practicing vegetarian habits and not wearing or wearing leather goods, “Webster said.
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It was not known how the women came into possession of the child. Investigators believed the group was traveling through the American Southwest, including Texas, and was known in the Yuma, Arizona area for asking for food, Webster said.
In late December 1980 or early January 1981, the family of the missing couple received a phone call from a woman who identified only as “Sister Susan.” The woman said she was calling from Los Angeles to explain that the missing couple had joined their religious group, relinquished all their worldly possessions and no longer wanted contact with their families. The woman asked if the family wanted the return of the missing couple’s car.
An appointment was made at the Daytona Motor Speedway in Florida and the authorities were notified, Webster said. They met a man and three women with grimaces. The women were arrested and the car was handed over to Donna Casasanta, Harold Dean Clouse’s mother, but Florida authorities found no record of the women’s arrest, Webster said.
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Webster on Thursday called on the public to seek information on the unresolved homicide case, noting that many questions remain unanswered. Casasanta herself said in a statement from the Attorney General’s Office that she “prayed for more than 40 years for answers, and the Lord has revealed some of them.”
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