MINDY MONTFORD
WHAT ABOUT BABY HOLLY?
Mindy Montford has spent over twenty-five years working in the criminal justice system and has served on both sides of the courtroom as a prosecutor and a criminal defense attorney. Mindy earned her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Texas.
She began her legal career as a prosecutor in Houston with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office and then returned to her hometown of Austin where she served as an Assistant District Attorney for nearly ten years handling felony crimes including sexual assault, child abuse, aggravated offenses, public integrity, domestic violence, and capital murder cases. While serving in the Travis County DA’s Office, Mindy co-founded the prosecution externship program at the University of Texas School of Law and served as an Adjunct Professor teaching law students about the criminal justice system.
After leaving the DA’s Office in 2008, Mindy started her own law practice with a focus on criminal defense work.
In 2016, Mindy was asked to return to the Travis County DA’s Office and serve as the First Assistant District Attorney for the then newly elected District Attorney, Margaret Moore. As the First Assistant District Attorney, Mindy oversaw an office of approximately 230 employees, including over 90 attorneys, with an annual budget of over $24 million dollars.
In 2021, Mindy embarked on a new career path where she started a statewide cold case and missing persons unit in the Criminal Investigations Division of the Texas Attorney General’s Office and currently serves as the Senior Counsel for the unit. The Unit assists local police agencies across the state with their investigations and serves as a statewide resource by offering trainings, case reviews, funding for forensic testing, and other support.
Throughout her legal career, Mindy has tried over 100 jury trials, testified as a resource witness before legislative committees on criminal justice reform issues, and has presented as a lecturer on various criminal law topics at various trainings and seminars. She has worked on and helped draft key pieces of legislation including the life without parole statute. She has made several guest appearances on local news and radio shows as a legal analyst providing commentary on local and national court cases.
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
Brent Dupre
Steven Wheeler
Craig Hollerman