BRENT DUPRE
WHAT ABOUT BABY HOLLY?
Brent Dupre is the Director of Law Enforcement for Attorney General’s Office for the State of Texas, where he oversees the Law Enforcement Division. The Law Enforcement Division is comprised of the Criminal Investigations Division and Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Serving in Law Enforcement for over 26 years, he retired as Assistant Chief of the Headquarters Bureau for the Austin Police Department in March 2021. He was commissioned in 1998 and has served in numerous assignments including: Patrol Officer, Child Abuse Detective, Patrol sergeant, Highway Enforcement, Recruiting, Intelligence, and Police Technology. As Assistant Chief his responsibilities include the Training and Recruiting, Professional Standards, the Austin Regional Intelligence Center, Tactical Intelligence Unit, Real Time Crime Center, and Police Technology Unit.
He is certified by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement as a Master Peace Officer. Director Dupre graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from Trinity University in 1997. Director Dupre and his wife Sande have two daughters, Isabella and Trinity. Director Dupre is an avid ice hockey player and enjoys traveling.
PRESENTATION
WHAT ABOUT BABY HOLLY?
"What About Baby Holly" is a tale of two stories. The first begins in 1980 when a young couple, Tina and Harold Dean Clouse, and their 1-year old infant daughter, Holly Marie, leave Florida and move to Lewisville, Texas. In the fall of 1980, Tina writes a letter to the family back in Florida telling them that their small family has joined a religious group and they will not be able to have contact with them again. The young couple's car is returned to their family in Florida in early 1981 by individuals who identify themselves as belonging to a religious group. The family never hears from Tina and Dean again.
The second story begins in January 1981 in a rural field near Houston, Texas. Two bodies (a male and a female) are discovered in the woods by a dog belonging to an area homeowner and law enforcement is notified. The medical examiner determines they are the victims of a homicide. A positive identification of the bodies is unable to be made, and they are buried as John and Jane Doe. Their identities will remain unknown for the next 40 years.
In 2011, John and Jane Doe are exhumed as efforts are made to collect DNA and identify the victims through a federal grant program. The victims are still unable to be identified, but the DNA is kept on hand for future testing. In 2021, the case is given new hope through the work of Identifinders International, LLC. and new grant funding. The two stories come together 40 years later when John and Jane Doe are finally identified through the use of forensic investigative genetic genealogy as Tina and Harold Dean Clouse. When their families back in Florida are contacted about the information, they ask, "What about Baby Holly?" Investigators were unaware a baby had been involved until that time.
This presentation describes the steps taken by law enforcement to determine what happened to Baby Holly, and the collaboration between state agencies that led to finding Holly Miller, a 42-year old mother of five, alive and well living in Oklahoma.
Additional Presenters:
Rachel Kading
Mindy Montford
Steven Wheeler
Craig Hollerman