The missing daughter of a couple killed in 1981 has been found alive more than 40 years later

By Rebekah Riess and Dakin Andone, CNN

The missing infant daughter of a man and woman whose bodies were discovered in Texas in 1981 has been found “alive and well” more than four decades later, according to the office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The bodies of Florida couple Tina Gail Linn Clouse and Harold Dean Clouse Jr. were found in a wooded area in Houston, the office said in a news release. But the couple — “the apparent victims of a homicide” — were not positively identified until 2021 through the work of forensic genealogists with Identifinders International.

For the Linn and Clouse families — who last heard from the couple in 1980 and spent decades searching for answers about the Clouses’ whereabouts — one question has been left unanswered: Where was their infant daughter Holly? According to authorities, the girl was not found with the couple’s remains.

But after more than 40 years, Holly — now 42 — has been found, per the AG’s office.

“I prayed for more than 40 years for answers and the Lord has revealed some of it… we have found Holly,” Holly’s biological grandmother Donna Casasanta said in the news release.

Holly has been told about her biological parents’ identities and has been in contact with her extended family, the AG’s office said. All hope to soon meet in person, it added.

The release from the AG’s office did not detail Holly’s life for the last 40 years, though family members quoted in the news release said she’d had a good life and was well cared for.

The investigation into her parents’ deaths is ongoing, the AG’s office said, and anyone with information related to the case is asked to contact its Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit.

Paxton praised the unit in a statement, with the office noting the investigation “demonstrates the importance of working cold case and missing persons investigations.”

“I am extremely proud of the exceptional work done by my office’s newly formed Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit,” Paxton said. “My office diligently worked across state lines to uncover the mystery surrounding Holly’s disappearance.”

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.