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Back on December 6, 1991, seventeen-year-old Jennifer Harbison and Eliza Thomas, both 17, were finishing their shift at the yogurt store where they were employed. Waiting for a ride home were Jennifer’s younger sister, 15-year-old Sarah Harbison, and her friend, Amy Ayers, who was 13.

Just before midnight, a fire at the store summoned first responders, who made a grim discovery: the four teenagers had been tied up, fatally attacked, and showed indicators of assault. The fire wiped out most of the forensic clues, with the exception of a cartridge that had rolled into a drain and tiny traces of biological evidence, including material under Ayers’ fingernails.

The Murders That Rocked Austin

These horrific killings profoundly shook the Texas capital and were branded as one of the best-known cold cases in the United States. After years of dead ends and wrongful convictions, the killings in time helped prompt a federal law signed in the year 2022 that allows victims' families to request unsolved investigations to be reinvestigated.

However the murders remained unsolved for over three decades – until now.

Significant Progress

Law enforcement officials disclosed on recently a "important advance" powered by advanced techniques in ballistics and genetic testing, announced the Austin mayor at a press conference.

Forensic clues point to Robert Brashers, who was named following his demise as a multiple murderer. More murders could be attributed to him as forensic technology become more advanced and more commonly used.

"The sole forensic clue found at that scene has been matched to him," said the head of police.

This investigation remains open, but this is a "significant advance", and Brashers is thought to be the sole perpetrator, officials said.

Families Find Answers

The sister of Eliza Thomas, Sonora Thomas, expressed that her mind was split following the tragedy occurred.

"One half of my mind has been demanding, 'What happened to my sister?', and the other part kept insisting, 'I'll never learn the truth. I will die not knowing, and I have to be OK with that,'" she said.

After discovering of this development in the case, "the conflicting thoughts of my thinking began merging," she said.

"I know now what happened, and that does ease my anguish."

Mistaken Arrests Corrected

The news not only bring resolution to the victims' families; it also completely clears two individuals, minors when arrested, who maintained they were coerced into admitting guilt.

Robert Springsteen, a teenager at the time during the crime, was given a death sentence, and Michael Scott, who was 15, was given life imprisonment. Both men said they gave confessions after hours-long interrogations in the late 1990s. In the following decade, both men were set free after their guilty findings were overturned due to new precedents on admissions absent tangible proof.

Legal authorities dropped the charges against Springsteen and Scott in the same period after a genetic test, called Y-STR, revealed neither suspect aligned against the DNA samples left at the crime scene.

Modern Technology Solves Case

The Y-STR profile – pointing to an unidentified male – would eventually be the decisive factor in resolving the murders. In recent years, the genetic data was sent for reanalysis because of technological advancements – but a nationwide inquiry to investigative bodies yielded no results.

In June, an investigator working on the case in 2022, considered a new approach. It had been since the bullet casings from the cartridge had been submitted to the national ballistic system – and in the interim, the registry had undergone major upgrades.

"The software has gotten so much better. In fact, we're dealing with three-dimensional imaging now," the detective commented at the media briefing.

The system identified a link. An unsolved murder in Kentucky, with a similar modus operandi, had the matching variety of cartridge. The detective and another official spoke to the Kentucky detectives, who are actively pursuing their unnamed case – including testing materials from a rape kit.

Building a Case

This development got Jackson thinking. Was there additional proof that might match against investigations elsewhere? He thought immediately of the Y-STR analysis – but there was a obstacle. The national DNA registry is the national DNA database for law enforcement, but the yogurt shop DNA was insufficiently intact and scarce to upload.

"I thought, well, it's been a few years. Additional facilities are doing this. Systems are expanding. Let's do a nationwide search again," he stated.

He circulated the historic Y-STR results to law enforcement agencies across the United States, instructing them to manually compare it to their local systems.

A second connection emerged. The profile matched perfectly with a sample from another state – a killing that occurred in 1990 that was closed with the aid of a genetic genealogy company and an expert in genetic genealogy in recent years.

Genetic Genealogy Success

The genealogist developed a family tree for the murderer from that case and located a family member whose DNA sample indicated a close tie – probably a brother or sister. A judge ordered that the suspect's remains be removed from burial, and his genetic material matched against the crime scene sample.

Normally, the genealogist is able to set aside solved cases in order to focus on the new mystery.

"However I have {not been