The daughter of a couple found murdered in Texas more than 40 years ago has been located and is “alive and well,” state officials have said.
“Baby Holly” Crouse, now 42, had been missing ever since her parents were found slain at a murder scene in 1981. According to the BBC, it was only last year the couple were identified using DNA testing.
The bodies of Holly’s parents, Tina Gail Linn Clouse and Dean (Junior) Clouse, were found in a wooded area in Houston. Since then, “the Linn and Clouse families have been searching for answers concerning the welfare of the Clouses and their daughter, Holly, since they were last heard from in 1980,” the Texas Attorney General’s Office said in a statement.
“Baby Holly has been located alive and well and is now 42 years of age. Holly has been notified of the identities of her biological parents and has been in contact with her extended biological family and they hope to meet in person soon.”
In a news conference Thursday afternoon, officials said that after the death of her parents Baby Holly ended up in the care of a “nomadic religious group” that was separated by gender, ate only vegetables and rejected things made out of leather.
Two women from the group, barefoot and in white robes, brought Baby Holly to an Arizona church, and she was placed in the care of a family who went on to raise her.
According to the BBC, Holly now lives in Oklahoma and has five children of her own.
However, the murder cases of her parents remain open, and officials say the mysterious religious group might be responsible for the deaths. They hope the latest developments lead to a break in the case.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children says Holly “realizes that so many people are interested in hearing more about her and her story” but “is asking for privacy at this time.”
Holly’s grandmother, Donna Casasanta, told The Independent she was “overwhelmed” to hear the news that her granddaughter had been found after so many years.
“I was crying for joy, because we’ve all been praying that we would find her and she would be okay – and she’d had a family that took care of her and raised her proper … we were very glad for that.”
The outlet reports that investigators tracked Holly to her place of work this week and notified her of the news.
“For the first time in 42 years, I was able to come home and go to bed that night and actually slept all night,” Casasanta said about the day she found out Holly was alive. “I hadn’t slept the whole night in 42 years, and that’s the truth.”
Texas First Assistant Attorney General Brent Webster said his team is now looking for more information about the religious group that turned Baby Holly in, adding that the group had previously said they left another baby at a laundromat.
According to Webster, one woman, who called herself “sister Susan,” had contacted members of the Linn and Clouse families in either late 1980 or early 1981 and told them Tina and Dean Jr. had joined their group and no longer wanted to have contact with their families. Sister Susan offered the families the chance to buy the couple’s car in Florida. The families agreed to meet the woman, but also contacted police about the exchange.
Some of the family members met up with the group at the Daytona racetrack to exchange the vehicle, but despite three members of the religious group being taken into custody that day, Webster said they haven’t been able to track down an arrest report for the incident.
The group, which Webster did not name, was known to have travelled throughout the southern U.S., including Arizona, California and possibly Texas during the early 1980s.