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Holly Marie Clouse: Missing child of murdered parents found alive after more than 40 years

Clouse's parents were murdered and dumped in the woods of Houston in 1980 but it was only in 2021 that the bodies were identified with the help of genetic genealogy

Holly Marie Clouse, who went missing as a baby in 1980 has been found alive on Thursday, June 9, according to the Texas Attorney General's office. Clouse's parents were murdered and dumped in the woods of Houston in 1980, but she was recently discovered alive and thriving.

Attorney General Ken Paxton remarked in a press release, "I am extremely proud of the exceptional work done by my office's newly formed Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit. My office diligently worked across state lines to uncover the mystery surrounding Holly's disappearance. We were successful in our efforts to locate her and reunite her with her biological family."

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After relocating from Florida in 1980, Clouse, now 42, and her parents Tina, 17, and Harold Dean Clouse Jr, 21, vanished in Texas. In 1981, the remains of a murdered couple were discovered in a forested location in Houston, but their identities remained unknown until 2021 when genetic genealogy was used to identify the bodies. Clouse, on the other hand, was still missing, and it was unclear what had happened to her.

Clouse, who now resides in Oklahoma, was alerted of her parents' names and subsequently participated in a video conference with her biological relatives, according to the Texas Attorney General's office.

Donna Casasanta, her biological paternal grandmother, said she was found on her deceased son's birthday, calling the news "a birthday present from heaven." "I prayed for more than 40 years for answers and the Lord has revealed some of it... we have found Holly," Casasanta remarked.

"After finally being able to reunite with Holly, I dreamed about her and my sister, Tina last night," Clouse's aunt Sherry Linn Green stated in the announcement. "In my dream, Tina was laying on the floor rolling around and laughing and playing with Holly like I saw them do many times before when they lived with me prior to moving to Texas."

"I believe Tina's finally resting in peace knowing Holly is reuniting with her family. I personally am so relieved to know Holly is alive and well and was well cared for, but also torn up by it all. That baby was her life," Green concluded.

However, there are still many unanswered doubts surrounding the case. For one instance, detectives have not explained how they tracked down Holly or how she might have survived the murders of her parents. In addition, authorities have remained silent on the circumstances behind Holly's parents, Tina and Dean's murders. The Texas Attorney General's Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit is asking anyone with information about Tina and Dean's murders to contact them at coldcaseunit@oag.texas.gov.