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On December 6, 1991, seventeen-year-old Jennifer Harbison and her coworker Eliza Thomas, each aged 17, were wrapping up at the frozen yogurt shop where they were employed. Remaining for a lift were Jennifer’s younger sister, 15-year-old Sarah Harbison, and her friend, 13-year-old Amy Ayers.

Just before midnight, a inferno at the business summoned first responders, who uncovered the tragedy: the four girls had been bound, killed, and showed evidence of sexual violence. The blaze eliminated nearly all evidence, except for a shell casing that had rolled into a drain and tiny traces of biological evidence, notably material found in her nail scrapings.

The Crime That Stunned Texas

The yogurt shop murders profoundly shook the city of Austin and evolved into one of the best-known cold cases in America. Over many years of dead ends and false accusations, the murders ultimately contributed to a federal law signed in 2022 that permits families of the deceased to request cold cases to be reviewed.

Yet the killings stayed unresolved for over three decades – until now.

Significant Progress

Investigators disclosed on Monday a "major development" powered by advanced techniques in bullet matching and forensic science, stated the Austin mayor at a media event.

The evidence indicate Brashers, who was identified following his demise as a multiple murderer. More murders could be attributed to him as DNA analyses continue to improve and more commonly used.

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

The murders remains open, but this represents a "huge leap", and Brashers is believed to be the sole perpetrator, police said.

Closure for Loved Ones

Eliza's sister, Sonora Thomas, shared that her psyche was fractured following the tragedy occurred.

"One part of my mind has been demanding, 'What happened to my sister?', and the other part kept insisting, 'I will never know. I will die not knowing, and I need to make peace with it,'" she said.

Upon hearing of this breakthrough in the case, "both sides of my thinking began merging," she noted.

"I know now the events, and that lessens my pain."

Mistaken Arrests Corrected

The news doesn't just bring closure to the loved ones; it also completely clears two men, minors when arrested, who maintained they were coerced into admitting guilt.

Robert Springsteen, a teenager at the time when the murders occurred, was sentenced to death, and Scott, aged 15 at the time, was given life imprisonment. Both men said they gave confessions following extended questioning in the late 1990s. In 2009, the two were released after their guilty findings were thrown out due to legal changes on admissions absent forensic proof.

Legal authorities dropped the case against the two men in the same period after a DNA analysis, known as Y-STR, indicated neither suspect matched against the samples recovered from the crime scene.

Modern Technology Solves Case

This genetic marker – pointing to an unknown man – would eventually be the decisive factor in cracking the investigation. In 2018, the profile was reexamined because of improved methods – but a countrywide check to law enforcement agencies returned no genetic matches.

In June, the lead detective handling the case in recently, came up with a thought. Time had gone by since the ballistics from the cartridge had been entered to the NIBIN database – and in the years since, the registry had seen substantial enhancements.

"The technology has advanced significantly. Actually, we're using three-dimensional imaging now," Jackson said at the news event.

There was a hit. An open homicide case in the state of Kentucky, with a similar modus operandi, had the matching variety of cartridge. The detective and a cold case expert consulted the law enforcement there, who are still working on their unnamed case – and are testing materials from a rape kit.

Building a Case

The apparent breakthrough got Jackson thinking. Was there additional proof that might link with investigations elsewhere? He thought immediately of the DNA profile – but there was a challenge. The national DNA registry is the countrywide system for police, but the evidence from Austin was not complete enough and minimal to submit.

"I suggested, well, it's been a few years. More labs are performing these tests. Registries are growing. I proposed a nationwide search again," Jackson said.

He circulated the long-standing DNA data to investigative units nationwide, requesting them to review individually it to their local systems.

There was another hit. The profile aligned exactly with a genetic evidence from a city in South Carolina – a 1990 murder that was solved with help from a genetic genealogy company and a well-known researcher in 2018.

Building a Family Tree

The genealogist developed a ancestry profile for the South Carolina killer and located a relative whose biological evidence suggested a immediate family link – probably a close relative. A judge ordered that Brasher's body be removed from burial, and his DNA corresponded against the forensic proof from Austin.

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

"However I have {not been