There are many news and crime stories that happen and leave holes and unanswered questions. Sometimes, people vanish in plain sight and they do not pop up for decades . Other times, there are individuals who run away and completely stay in hiding for the rest of their lives.
True crime has become a genre of TV and movies that people are very interested in recently, and many can see why .
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In 1980, Holly Marie Clouse and her parents completely vanished.
Holly lived with her parents—Tina, 17, and Harold Dean Clouse Jr., 21—in Florida. As a family, they decided to move to Texas. However, not long after they completely disappeared as a family.
Not long after their disappearance, human remains were found in the Houston, Texas area.
At the time, it was very difficult to assess who the human remains belonged to. In 1981, criminal technology was nowhere near what it is today.
In fact, many cases from decades ago are being solved today.
With criminal technology becoming more advanced as the years go on, detectives have gone back to solve unanswered cases with the new technology that can help test DNA and other things.
The remains that were found were finally identified in 2021.
In 2021, detectives were able to identify the two bodies found as Tina and Harold Dean Clouse Jr. using genetic genealogy. However, at the time, no remains were found for their daughter.
When detectives finally identified their bodies, they also located Holly Marie to inform her of the news.
According to the Texas Attorney General’s office , Holly Marie—the daughter of Tina and Dean—was contacted about their deaths. Holly Marie lives in Oklahoma now and is 42-years-old.
It is unclear how detectives found Holly Marie.
The case of Holly Marie had been unsolved and left many questions, but once they had identified the bodies of her parents, detectives were able to track her down. How they were able to do so is still not something officials have shared.
They were able to connect Holly Marie to the rest of her biological relatives.
Donna Casasanta, Holly Marie’s paternal grandmother, said that officials had connected her to her granddaughter on her late son’s birthday. Casasanta said it was “a birthday present from heaven.”
Holly Marie’s family said connecting with her after all of this time was a miracle.
“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,” Holly’s aunt Sherry Linn Green said .
Green says she believes her sister is finally at peace.
“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,” she added.
While the reunion is a happy one, investigators claim many things remain a “mystery.”
For one, officials are unsure how Holly Marie survived after her two parents were killed and/or murdered. In addition, they are unsure of what happened to Tina and Dean and the case remains unsolved.
Officials are open to any tips and information.
Anyone who has any possible information or tips helping to solve the case of Tina and Dean is asked to contact the Texas Attorney General’s Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit at coldcaseunit@oag.texas.gov .
