The missing daughter of a couple of Texan newlyweds who were murdered and dumped in the woods more than 40 years ago has been found alive and well..Investigators say that “Baby Holly,” who was also feared to have been killed, had been dropped off at an Arizona church by female members of a nomadic religious group..Holly, a 42-year-old mother-of-five, was located by family history detectives. She was discovered living in Oklahoma with her family..The new Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit with the Texas Attorney General’s Office made the announcement Thursday morning..Holly Marie Clouse was a tiny baby when her parents, Harold Dean Clouse and Tina Gail Clouse, disappeared in late 1980 during a move from Florida to Texas..Her young parents were found deceased in a treed area of Houston on January 12, 1981. Their bodies remained unidentified until October 2021. Their DNA matched the couple to Kentucky family members..Since infant Holly was not found with the bodies of the deceased parents, police at the time postulated that she may well have survived..Police presented themselves at Holly’s place of work in Oklahoma on Tuesday. As a result of the investigation, Holly was able to speak with her extended family for the first time later in the same day..“It's one of the most meaningful things I've ever been a part of," Volusia County Sheriff's Office Det. Steve Wheeler told KHOU news. “It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing to play even a small part in reuniting a family after 40 years.”.It's not known if Holly was informed of her biological parents' identities prior to Tuesday as officials have not yet shared exactly how they identified Holly..In an effort to help locate her after her parents were identified, FHD Forensics launched the Hope For Holly DNA Project in her honour and became the custodian of the DNA profiles of some of Holly's family members..“The whole family slept well last night. The Hope For Holly Project was a success thanks to the Texas Cold Case Unit,” Cheryl Clouse, Holly’s aunt, said..“I believe Tina is finally resting in peace knowing Holly is reuniting with her family,” Sherry Green, another aunt, said..Founder of FHD Forensics and one of the genealogist team who identified Holly’s parents, Allison Peacock, praised Holly’s family for being persistent..“They’ve spent the past six months with me digging through records, gathering photos for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s age progression portrait, and documenting memories of Holly and her parents in an effort to help law enforcement,” Peacock said..“What matters is that Holly was found happy and alive and now knows that she has a huge extended family that has loved her for decades,” she said..The Texas Attorney General’s Office did not take questions from the press during a conference on Thursday, citing an ongoing criminal investigation in the case. They did ask the public for any information that could help solve the Clouses’ murders..“In December of 2021, this case came in right after we started taking cases,” First Assistant Attorney General Brent Webster said Thursday..“Baby Holly was left in a church in Arizona and was taken into their care ... The family that raised Holly are not suspects in this case. Two women who identified themselves as members of a nomadic religious group brought Holly to the church. They were wearing white robes and they were barefoot.”.They said they were members of a religious group that believed in “separation for male and female members, practiced vegetarian habits and not using or wearing leather goods.”.The women “indicated they had given up a baby before, at a laundromat.".“It is believed that this particular group travelled around southwest United States, including Arizona, California and possibly Texas. There were sightings of this religious group around Yuma, AZ in the early 1980s. The women members would be seen around town at various points, asking for food.”.Around December 1980 or January 1981, the Clouse family was approached by people who said they wanted to return the Clouse's car to their family in exchange for money and at the time said that "Tina and Dean had joined their religious group and no longer wanted to have contact with their families. They were also giving up all of their possessions.”.Police “reportedly took the women into custody, but there is no record of a police report on file that has been found as of yet,” said Webster at the press conference..No arrests were ever made in connection to Harold and Tina's murders and the investigation into their deaths remains ongoing.
