steve wheeler
WHAT ABOUT BABY HOLLY?
Steve Wheeler has been in law enforcement for twenty-seven (27) years starting out as a Corrections Officer for the State of Nevada Department of Corrections to the City of Las Vegas Detention & Enforcement, (currently the Department of Public Safety) as a Corrections Officer, and a Deputy City Marshal. He is currently employed as a detective with the Volusia County Sheriff's Office in Florida.
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
Craig Holleman
Mindy Montford