A TRAGIC mystery ensued when two parents were found dead and their baby went missing.
Although Tina Linn and Harold Dean Clouse Jr.'s homicides remain cold, their daughter Holly Marie Clouse was eventually located.
Who is baby Holly Marie?
Holly Marie Clouse is a previously missing person who was believed to have vanished sometime between October 1980 and January 1981.
Police also believe Holly's parents Tina Linn and Harold Dean Clouse Jr. were murdered between the abovementioned dates.
On January 12, 1981, 17-year-old Tina and 21-year-old Dean's corpses were discovered in Houston, Texas; they were beaten and strangled to death.
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Upon the discovery of their bodies, their baby remained missing.
As their homicide investigation went cold, the case became infamously known as the Baby Holly Case.
While the murders went unsolved, Baby Holly remained missing for 40-plus years.
How did the police find baby Holly Marie?
On June 7, 2022, police announced they located 42-year-old baby Holly alive and well in Oklahoma; which happened to coincide with her late father Dean's birthday.
At the time, investigators revealed they were able to find Holly Marie due to the DNA trail that started with the genetic testing used to identify Dean and Tina's bodies.
In an interview with ABC's 20/20, Holly Marie said she was unaware of her biological family's tragedy and what happened to her as an infant.
Law enforcement also learned that after Dean and Tina's homicides, members of a nomadic religious group left Holly Marie at a church in Arizona.
Then, the church cared for the baby as they helped find a family to adopt her.
Eventually, Baby Holly was adopted by a pastor and his wife; they raised her in Yuma, Arizona.
Authorities have kept the identity of her adoptive parents and early childhood confidential because of Dean and Tina's open murder investigation.
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Police did not list the adoptive parents as suspects in their homicides.
On the day she was found alive, Holly was reunited with her living biological family members.
Living in Oklahoma with her husband, she goes by her married name Holly Miller, and is a mother to five children.
In a press release, the Texas Attorney General's Office stated: "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."
Holly's biological paternal grandmother, Donna Casasanta, added: "I prayed for more than 40 years for answers, and the Lord has revealed some of it...we have found Holly.
"Thank you to all of the investigators for working so hard to find Holly.
"I prayed for them day after day and that they would find Holly and she would be alright."
Holly Marie Miller's case is chronicled in a 20/20 episode titled Baby Holly Found.
"I didn't know that I was missing," she told show anchor David Muir.
"I had a family out there that wanted to get to know me and had been searching for me all this time. I couldn't believe it. Are you serious?"
On November 3, 2023, Baby Holly Found is scheduled to air at 9 pm EST via ABC.
Audiences who miss the initial broadcast can check out the episode via Hulu.
What is genetic genealogy?
Technology and science have both evolved since the 1980s and now help police when investigating cold cases.
Genetic genealogy, which police used to identify Dean and Tina, is a new form of DNA testing that often helps create family histories.
According to the Library of Congress, genetic genealogy uses DNA test results in combination with traditional genealogical methods to help identify the type of biological relationships between or among individuals.
Some of the advantages include the ability to extend research beyond paperwork of recent centuries and to construct ancient pedigrees through molecular evolutionary studies.
