The identity of a murdered Houston couple has been discovered nearly 40 years after the pair were reported missing- leading to questions regarding the whereabouts of their missing daughter.
In 1979, 21-year-old Harold Dean Clouse left behind a troubled past and moved from Florida to Texas with his new wife Tina Gail and their infant daughter Hollie Marie in search of a new life.
"I can take better care of Tina and the baby," Clouse's mother recalls him saying before leaving, claiming that he had a lucrative career as a carpenter lined up for him once he arrived.
Instead, the couple were murdered soon after their arrival in Houston in late 1980.
Their remains were discovered together in a wooded area in Houston, Texas on January 12 1981, when a dog led searchers to their remains. Mr. Clouse was found beaten, bound and gagged, and 17-year-old Ms. Clouse had been strangled to death.
But despite the discovery, the two bodies were only able to be successfully identified late last year.
The Houston Chronicle reports that Clouse’s sister, Debbie Brooks, recalled getting a call from a genealogist who managed to track her down once Clouse’s DNA had been uploaded to GEDmatch.com.
Brooks explained the woman found with Clouse was likely his wife, which further DNA testing from relatives later confirmed.
But with both parents identified, that left one question remaining: Where was Hollie?
Donna Casasanta, Clouse’s mother, recalls that her son stopped writing home in late 1980. Several months later, she received a call from a person offering to drive his car back to Florida from California for $1,000.
Three women in religious robes arrived with the vehicle, and told Donna that the couple had joined a religious group and were cutting ties, and given that Clouse had previously dabbled with joining a cult, the story checked out.
“We started searching and searching," Casasanta claims. The couple's names were added to missing persons lists. But eventually the trail went cold. It wasn't until July 2011 that Harris County authorities exhumed the bodies in order to retrieve DNA.
A break in the case came a decade later, when the case was taken up by a genetic genealogy group named Identifinders International, who posted their findings on Reddit.
"We've taken it very hard," says Casasanta. Still, "I hope we can find [Hollie]."
The family hold out hope however that someone who remembers the couple might be able to provide some information about their long-lost child, who by now would be nearing 42.
But in the meantime, Casasanta is grateful that she finally knows what happened to her son.
“We can lay it to rest. We know he’s gone and she’s gone and I know they are both in heaven,” she said.
But despite it all, she still wonders about Hollie.
“I hope we can find her,” she said.
Featured Image Credit: Identifiers International
Tom Sanders