Major Development in 1991 Texas Yogurt Shop Murders Provides Hope for Long-Dormant Investigations: 'There Exist Other Victims Still Unidentified'.

During December 6, 1991, seventeen-year-old Jennifer Harbison and Eliza Thomas, both 17, were wrapping up at the frozen yogurt shop where they were employed. Waiting for a ride home were Jennifer’s younger sister, Sarah Harbison, aged 15, and Sarah’s friend, Amy Ayers, who was 13.

Shortly before the clock struck twelve, a fire at the shop drew first responders, who made a grim discovery: the young victims had been bound, killed, and showed signs of sexual assault. The blaze destroyed nearly all evidence, except for a bullet casing that had rolled into a drain and trace amounts of biological evidence, among them evidence found in her nail scrapings.

The Case That Shook a City

The frozen yogurt shop case traumatized the Texas capital and evolved into one of the most infamous long-lingering investigations in America. Over many years of false leads and false accusations, the murders ultimately contributed to national legislation enacted in 2022 that allows victims' families to ask for dormant cases to be reviewed.

Yet the crimes stayed unresolved for over three decades – before this development.

Key Development

Law enforcement officials disclosed on Monday a "major development" made possible by modern methods in bullet matching and genetic testing, announced the city's mayor at a press conference.

Genetic matches indicate Brashers, who was identified after his death as a multiple murderer. Additional killings may be attributed to him as forensic technology become more advanced and more commonly used.

"The single piece of proof located at the yogurt shop has been linked to him," explained the head of police.

The case hasn't reached conclusion, but this marks a "huge leap", and the individual is thought to be the lone killer, authorities said.

Healing Begins

A family member, a therapist, said that her thoughts were divided after Eliza was killed.

"One half of my mind has been yelling, 'What occurred to my sister?', and the other part kept saying, 'It will remain a mystery. I will die not knowing, and I need to make peace with it,'" she said.

Upon hearing about this breakthrough in the case, "the conflicting thoughts of my thinking started melding," she noted.

"Finally I comprehend what happened, and that does ease my anguish."

Innocent Men Exonerated

The news doesn't just bring closure to the grieving families; it also fully exonerates two individuals, who were teens then, who insisted they were pressured into confessing.

Robert Springsteen, who was 17 at the time of the killings, was sent to death row, and Michael Scott, aged 15 at the time, was given life imprisonment. Each defendant asserted they admitted involvement following hours-long interrogations in the year 1999. In 2009, both men were released after their verdicts were overturned due to legal changes on statements without tangible proof.

Prosecutors withdrew the prosecution against the two men in 2009 after a forensic examination, known as Y-STR, indicated neither suspect corresponded against the DNA samples recovered from the yogurt shop.

Modern Technology Solves Case

The Y-STR profile – indicating an unknown man – would ultimately be the key in cracking the investigation. In recent years, the genetic data was submitted for retesting because of scientific progress – but a countrywide check to law enforcement agencies returned no genetic matches.

During the summer, an investigator assigned to the investigation in recently, had an idea. Time had gone by since the bullet casings from the shell casing had been uploaded to the NIBIN database – and in that time, the registry had undergone major upgrades.

"The technology has advanced significantly. Actually, we're dealing with three-dimensional imaging now," Jackson said at the media briefing.

The system identified a link. An open homicide case in another state, with a similar modus operandi, had the same type of bullet casing. The detective and a cold case expert consulted the law enforcement there, who are continuing to investigate their open file – which involves testing materials from a rape kit.

Linking Multiple Crimes

The new lead made the detective wonder. Might there exist additional proof that might correspond to crimes in different locations? He considered right away of the genetic testing – but there was a challenge. The Codis database is the federal genetic registry for police, but the evidence from Austin was insufficiently intact and scarce to enter.

"I said, well, several years have gone by. Additional facilities are doing this. Registries are growing. I proposed a nationwide search again," Jackson explained.

He distributed the historic Y-STR results to investigative units nationwide, asking them to manually compare it to their internal records.

They found another match. The profile aligned exactly with a sample from another state – a 1990 murder that was solved with the aid of a genetic genealogy company and a celebrated genealogist in 2018.

Building a Family Tree

The genealogist created a family tree for the South Carolina killer and located a family member whose biological evidence suggested a immediate family link – likely a brother or sister. A magistrate ordered that the suspect's remains be exhumed, and his biological samples corresponded against the forensic proof from Austin.

Typically, she is can move on from resolved crimes in order to work on the next one.

"But I have {not been