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Back on a Friday in December 1991, seventeen-year-old Jennifer Harbison and her coworker Eliza Thomas, both seventeen years old, were wrapping up at the frozen yogurt shop where they worked. Staying behind for a lift were Jennifer's sister, 15-year-old Sarah Harbison, and Sarah’s friend, Amy Ayers, who was 13.

Moments before 12 AM, a fire at the shop drew first responders, who found a horrific scene: the young victims had been bound, murdered, and showed indicators of assault. The fire destroyed nearly all evidence, except for a cartridge that had rolled into a drain and minute samples of biological evidence, including traces beneath Amy Ayers' nails.

The Crime That Stunned Texas

The yogurt shop murders deeply affected the community in Austin and evolved into one of the most infamous cold cases in America. After years of false leads and mistaken arrests, the homicides eventually contributed to a federal law signed in 2022 that permits families of the deceased to request unsolved investigations to be reviewed.

However the killings stayed unresolved for almost thirty-four years – up to this point.

Key Development

Law enforcement officials announced on recently a "major development" made possible by modern methods in bullet matching and forensic science, said the local leader at a press conference.

Forensic clues indicate Brashers, who was identified posthumously as a repeat offender. Further crimes could be attributed to him as forensic technology continue to improve and widespread.

"The single piece of proof found at that scene has been matched to him," explained the city's police chief.

The murders isn't closed yet, but this marks a "significant advance", and the suspect is believed to be the only attacker, authorities confirmed.

Closure for Loved Ones

Eliza's sister, Sonora, said that her mind was split after the tragedy occurred.

"One half of my consciousness has been demanding, 'What occurred to my sister?', and the remaining part kept repeating, 'I'll never learn the truth. I'll pass away without answers, and I need to make peace with it,'" she said.

Upon hearing of this breakthrough in the case, "the conflicting thoughts of my brain started coming together," she explained.

"Finally I comprehend the events, and that lessens my anguish."

Innocent Men Exonerated

The breakthrough not simply bring closure to the victims' families; it also fully exonerates two men, teenagers at the time, who maintained they were pressured into giving false statements.

Robert Springsteen, a teenager at the time when the murders occurred, was sent to death row, and Scott, who was 15, was received a life sentence. Each defendant stated they admitted involvement after extended questioning in the year 1999. In the following decade, they were released after their verdicts were overturned due to new precedents on confessions without physical evidence.

The district attorney's office abandoned the case against Springsteen and Scott in that year after a genetic test, called Y-STR, indicated neither man aligned against the genetic material found at the murder site.

The Investigation Advances

This genetic marker – indicating an mystery suspect – would eventually be the crucial element in solving this case. In 2018, the DNA profile was reexamined because of scientific progress – but a nationwide inquiry to other police departments yielded no results.

In June, Daniel Jackson handling the case in 2022, considered a new approach. Several years had passed since the firearms evidence from the cartridge had been entered to the NIBIN database – and in the years since, the registry had undergone major upgrades.

"The software has improved dramatically. I mean, we're using advanced modeling now," he commented at the news event.

They got a match. An open homicide case in another state, with a comparable method, had the same type of shell casing. The detective and a colleague spoke to the Kentucky detectives, who are continuing to investigate their open file – which involves analyzing evidence from a forensic kit.

Connecting the Dots

The new lead prompted further inquiry. Might there exist further clues that might link with investigations elsewhere? He recalled instantly of the Y-STR analysis – but there was a problem. The Codis database is the countrywide system for police, but the evidence from Austin was not complete enough and scarce to enter.

"I thought, well, time has passed. Additional facilities are conducting this analysis. Systems are expanding. Let's do a national inquiry again," he stated.

He distributed the long-standing Y-STR results to police departments around the country, instructing them to check by hand it to their local systems.

They found another match. The DNA pattern aligned exactly with a genetic evidence from Greenville, South Carolina – a homicide from 1990 that was closed with help from a genetic genealogy company and a well-known researcher in recent years.

Building a Family Tree

The researcher developed a genealogical chart for the South Carolina killer and identified a relative whose DNA sample indicated a immediate family link – likely a close relative. A judge authorized that the suspect's remains be removed from burial, and his DNA aligned against the evidence from the yogurt shop.

Usually, this expert is able to set aside closed investigations in order to focus on the following case.

"However I have {not been