Cold case investigators have situated the grownup daughter of a Florida couple found slain in 1981, whose child ended up in the care of a “nomadic religious group,” officers mentioned Thursday.
The identities of two our bodies found in a wooded space in Houston in 1981 had been unknown till final 12 months, when genetic analysis lastly decided that they have been Tina Gail Linn Clouse and Harold Dean Clouse Jr., Texas prosecutors mentioned.
The couple’s younger daughter, nevertheless, wasn’t found close to her dad and mom’ stays, officers mentioned.
“The Linn and Clouse families have been searching for answers concerning the welfare of the Clouses and their daughter, Holly, since they were last heard from in 1980,” the Texas Attorney General’s Office mentioned in assertion.
“Baby Holly has been located alive and well and is now 42 years of age. Holly has been notified of the identities of her biological parents and has been in contact with her extended biological family and they hope to meet in person soon.”
Texas prosecutors revealed that Holly was ultimately dropped off at a church in Arizona by two barefoot ladies in white robes who mentioned they have been members of a “nomadic non secular group” that ate only vegetables and shunned leather products, First Assistant Attorney General Brent Webster told reporters.
“The ladies had indicated they’d given up a child earlier than, at a laundromat,” said Webster, who didn’t name the religious group, which he said had been seen in Arizona, California and “presumably Texas.”
“The household that raised Holly should not suspects in this case,” Webster added.
In late December 1980 or January 1981, the couple’s family said they got a phone call from a woman calling herself “Sister Susan,” claiming the two had joined her religious group and wanted to cut off all family ties, Webster said.
“They needed to return Tina and Dean’s automotive to their household,” Webster said. “They have been additionally giving up all of their possessions. Sister Susan requested for cash in alternate for returning the automotive to Florida, the place the household lived.”
The couple’s family met the mysterious woman at Daytona International Speedway, along with police, Webster said.
“The household described assembly two to 3 ladies and presumably one male, and as soon as once more these ladies have been carrying robes and seemed to be members of this non secular group,” Webster said.
“The police reportedly took the ladies into custody, however there is no file of a police report on file that has been found as of but. Given the age of this case, that’s frequent. We’re nonetheless in the hunt for that police report,” Webster said.
A spokesman for the Daytona Beach Police Department, the agency that would cover the race course, said late Thursday afternoon that his force hasn’t been in contact with Texas investigators about the matter.
The red 1978 AMC Concord that was returned to the family was the couple’s car, and Texas authorities believe they were murdered in December 1980 or early January 1981.
The couple, whose bodies were found off Wallisville Road in Harris County, last spoke to their families in late October 1980, when they were living in Lewisville, Texas, north of Dallas, Webster said.
The murder case remains unsolved, and prosecutors said they hope publicity about the case will spark new clues.
“Thank you to all of the investigators for working so hard to find Holly,” Holly’s grandmother Donna Casasanta mentioned in a press release launched by prosecutors.
“I prayed for them day after day and that they would find Holly and she would be alright.”