TEXAS — After 40 years, the daughter of a deceased couple has been located and identified by Texas Attorney General Paxton’s Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit.
Two dead bodies found in 1981, who were apparent victims of a homicide, were identified last year using genetic genealogy. The two were identified as Florida couple Tina Gail Linn Clouse and Harold Dean Clouse Jr. After their families were notified, they wanted to find the couple’s infant daughter, Holly, who was not found with the remains of the Clouses.
Paxton’s unit collaborated with multiple law enforcement divisions across the country to locate and identify Baby Holly. She has been located and is currently 42 years old. Holly has been notified of the identities of her biological parents and is in contact with her extended biological family.
“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.” Paxton said.
John Bischoff, vice president of the Missing Children’s Division at NCMEC, hopes Holly’s story serves as encouragement for other families who are also missing loved ones.
“After finally being able to reunite with Holly, I dreamed about her and my sister, Tina last night. 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,” said Sherry Linn Green, Holly’s aunt.
Holly and her family hope to meet in person soon.
“The very first thing that ran through my head when we heard Holly was found was the call that I got eight months ago from Allison about my sister’s death. The juxtaposition of that call with Holly’s sudden discovery just popped into my head. To go from hoping to find her to suddenly meeting her less than 8 months later —- how miraculous is that? All of the detectives involved ..They all expressed such fortitude to get to the bottom of this case.. They have the Linn family’s complete support,” said Les Linn, Holly’s uncle.
The investigation into the murder of Holly’s parents is still ongoing. Anyone with information regarding their deaths is asked to contact the Texas Attorney General’s Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit at coldcaseunit@oag.texas.gov.