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Back on a Friday in December 1991, seventeen-year-old Jennifer Harbison and her coworker Eliza Thomas, each aged 17, were finishing their shift at the yogurt store where they worked. Waiting for a lift were Jennifer’s younger sister, 15-year-old Sarah Harbison, and Sarah’s friend, 13-year-old Amy Ayers.

Shortly before the clock struck twelve, a blaze at the business attracted emergency crews, who made a grim discovery: the young victims had been restrained, fatally attacked, and showed indicators of assault. The blaze destroyed the bulk of physical proof, except for a shell casing that had fallen into a gutter and minute samples of genetic material, notably material found in her nail scrapings.

The Crime That Stunned Texas

The frozen yogurt shop case profoundly shook the community in Austin and evolved into one of the most infamous cold cases in the nation. Over many years of false leads and mistaken arrests, the murders in time helped prompt a U.S. law enacted in the year 2022 that allows loved ones to ask for unsolved investigations to be reviewed.

However the killings remained unsolved for almost thirty-four years – up to this point.

Key Development

Investigators announced on this past Monday a "major development" powered by advanced techniques in ballistics and forensic science, said the Austin mayor at a news briefing.

Forensic clues indicate Robert Brashers, who was identified after his death as a serial killer. More murders are likely to be attributed to him as genetic testing continue to improve and widespread.

"The only physical evidence located at the yogurt shop has been linked to him," stated the top law enforcement officer.

The case remains open, but this is a "major step", and the individual is considered the lone killer, authorities stated.

Healing Begins

A family member, a therapist, expressed that her mind was split following the tragedy occurred.

"One half of my mind has been screaming, 'What occurred to my sister?', and the other part kept saying, 'I will never know. I'll pass away without answers, and I must accept that,'" she stated.

After discovering of this development in the case, "the conflicting thoughts of my mind started coming together," she noted.

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

Innocent Men Exonerated

This development not only bring closure to the loved ones; it also completely clears two suspects, teenagers at the time, who claimed they were coerced into admitting guilt.

Springsteen, then 17 years old when the murders occurred, was sent to death row, and Scott, aged 15 at the time, was received a life sentence. Both men said they only confessed following extended questioning in the late 1990s. In the following decade, the two were freed after their guilty findings were overturned due to legal changes on admissions lacking forensic proof.

The district attorney's office abandoned the charges against Springsteen and Scott in the same period after a DNA analysis, known as Y-STR, showed neither individual matched against the samples found at the murder site.

The Investigation Advances

This genetic marker – pointing to an unknown man – would eventually be the key in solving this case. In 2018, the genetic data was reexamined because of technological advancements – but a countrywide check to law enforcement agencies yielded no results.

In June, Daniel Jackson assigned to the investigation in recently, considered a new approach. Several years had passed since the ballistics from the spent round had been submitted to the national ballistic system – and in the interim, the database had seen substantial enhancements.

"The software has advanced significantly. Actually, we're using advanced modeling now," the detective stated at the media briefing.

They got a match. An unresolved killing in another state, with a comparable method, had the same type of cartridge. The detective and a colleague met with the local investigators, who are continuing to investigate their unnamed case – which involves analyzing evidence from a rape kit.

Linking Multiple Crimes

The apparent breakthrough got Jackson thinking. Could there be further clues that might link with investigations elsewhere? He thought immediately of the DNA profile – but there was a problem. The Combined DNA Index System is the countrywide system for investigators, but the genetic material from the scene was not complete enough and minimal to enter.

"I said, well, it's been a few years. A growing number of laboratories are conducting this analysis. Databases are getting bigger. Let's do a national inquiry again," Jackson said.

He distributed the long-standing genetic findings to law enforcement agencies nationwide, requesting them to manually compare it to their local systems.

They found another match. The DNA pattern corresponded precisely with a DNA sample from another state – a homicide from 1990 that was resolved with the aid of a DNA firm and an expert in genetic genealogy in 2018.

Identifying the Killer

The genealogist developed a ancestry profile for the murderer from that case and identified a family member whose DNA sample suggested a close tie – probably a sibling. A judge ordered that the deceased individual be exhumed, and his genetic material matched against the evidence from the yogurt shop.

Normally, this expert is able to set aside resolved crimes in order to focus on the new mystery.

"However I have {not been