Chapters
Shownotes Transcript
What's something that works so well that it's basically magic? It's summertime, so how about air conditioning? Noise-canceling headphones? Meeting-free Fridays? Well, what about selling with Shopify?
Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. From the "launch your online shop" stage, to the first "real life store" stage, all the way to the "did we just hit a million orders" stage, Shopify is there to help you grow. Whether you're selling trained detective t-shirts or advocacy gear, Shopify helps you sell everywhere.
From their all-in-one e-commerce platform to their in-person POS system, wherever and whatever you're selling, Shopify's got you covered.
What I love about Shopify is no matter how big you grow, Shopify grows with you. And they give you everything you need to take your business to the next level. Sign up for a $1 per month trial at shopify.com slash justice, all lowercase. Go to shopify.com slash justice now to grow your business no matter what stage you're in. Shopify.com slash justice.
This is Jessica Knoll, host of the new series Back in Crime. If you're a follower of true crime, you're probably familiar with some of the most shocking stories from our history. Horrific tragedies like the Columbine Massacre. He turned the gun straight at us and shot. Oh my God, the window went out. And the kid standing there with me, I think he got hit. Okay. Oh God. And notorious criminals like cult leader Charles Manson.
In a scene described by one investigator as reminiscent of a weird religious rite, five persons, including actress Sharon Tate, were found dead at the home of Miss Tate and her husband, screen director Roman Poliansky. But what if we were to turn back the hands of time and relive these events as they unfolded? Follow along each week as we take a fresh look at crimes from the past. Back in Crime is available now.
Voices for Justice is a podcast that uses adult language and discusses sensitive and potentially triggering topics, including violence, abuse, and murder. This podcast may not be appropriate for younger audiences. All parties are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Some names have been changed or omitted per their request or for safety purposes. Listener discretion is advised. My name is Sarah Turney and this is Voices for Justice.
Today, I'm discussing the murders of Dean and Tina Klaus, as well as the disappearance of their child, Holly. In 1980, Dean and Tina packed up their car and moved their family from Florida to Texas in order for Dean to pursue a better career prospect. By all accounts, the small family was happy and thriving. During this time, Tina would often send letters and pictures of Holly back home to their families in Florida.
But in October 1980, the letters stopped. By January 1981, Dean's mother received a phone call from a woman who identified herself as Sister Susan. Sister Susan explains that Tina and Dean decided to join their group and give up all their worldly possessions. So she'd like to return their car to her for a monetary donation of $1,000.
Dean's mother agrees, gets the vehicle back, and spends the next 40 years agonizing over what really happened to the young family. What she didn't know was that Tina and Dean had been found deceased just weeks within getting this phone call. And while it was obvious that Tina and Dean had been murdered, they remained unidentified for decades while no one knew that baby Holly was still missing. In this episode, you're going to hear two parallel timelines.
You'll hear about the life and disappearances of Tina, Dean, and their baby Holly, but you will also hear the timeline of when Tina and Dean were found deceased and the county's timeline of trying to identify them. These timelines would only intersect 40 years later when Tina and Dean are finally identified and baby Holly was found alive. This is the case of the Klaus family.
Harold Dean Klaus Jr. was born on June 7th, 1959. Unfortunately, his father passed away when he was very young. So he was primarily raised by his mother, Donna Casasanta, in the New Smyrna, Florida area south of Daytona Beach. His mother has described Harold, or Dean as most people called him, as a good student who enjoyed playing football. But he was also a bit of a wanderer. He would often leave home for a week or so at a time.
Now, I have to give credit to Lisa Olson at the Texas Observer. I found a lot of details about this case, specifically information about Dean's background from her article, Who Killed Dean and Tina Klaus and Where Is Their Baby? Details I didn't really see anywhere else. As always, a full list of my sources will be available on VoicesForJusticePodcast.com if you are interested in reading the article for yourself.
In the article, Lisa explains that at the age of 17, so around the year 1976, Dean had contact with a religious group. One day, Dean was talking to two men wearing white robes in their kitchen. He sometimes traveled with this group of people that referred to themselves as brothers and sisters. In fact, one time, Dean left for quite some time to join what his family called a cult, only to later ask his mother for money to fly back home.
Now, I think it's important to acknowledge what was happening in the U.S. at this time. Not only were teenagers and young adults leaving their families to join communes and various groups throughout the country to seek a different way of living, there was also something happening called the Jesus People Movement.
This movement came about during the 1960s and 1970s, as there was a lot of uncertainty and unrest in the U.S. Now, this could be a podcast all in itself here. And I am by no means an expert in religion, nor do I really want to discuss religion, but it is relevant to this case. Essentially, this movement was born out of a lot of young people in the U.S. who were looking for a better way of life.
From what I could find, this movement didn't really focus on a single religion. It was this larger movement that encompassed hundreds if not more groups of people. Some groups were really laid back and others were really extreme. This movement became so popular, it was featured on the covers of both Time and Life magazines around this time. Again, this is important information to remember for later on.
But by 1979, Dean had another focus, a girl named Tina Lynn. Now, unfortunately, I couldn't find as much information about Tina Lynn as I could Dean. But she was born on September 21st, 1963, making her about four years younger than Dean. It also appears that they shared some life experiences that made their bond pretty strong.
Like Dean, Tina grew up in the same area of Florida and lost her father young. Now, Tina's brother was actually dating one of Dean's sisters at this time, and they would later get married. So the families were already intertwined as well. By this time, Dean had settled down quite a bit. He
He was working in construction and was apparently known for his skill of building cabinetry. On June 25th, 1979, Tina and Dean surprised both of their families by getting married at the local courthouse. According to Dean's family, the next day he just came home and announced that they'd gotten married. But this does appear to be something that both of their families approved of. Then, on January 24th, 1980, they welcomed their first and only child into the world, Holly.
Now, at this time, two of Dean's sisters were actually pregnant, and Tina talked about how excited she was that Holly would have cousins really close in age to grow up with. By all accounts, Tina and Dean were really good parents. Dean changed a lot when he married Tina and when they had Holly. His mother says that his focus was on his new family and he just doted on them.
His mom described Tina's affection for baby Holly to people, quote, She carried a little baby book with her everywhere. She always took pictures and took great care to document her baby's first year and what she was doing, end quote. But the dream of Holly growing up with her cousins was quickly replaced by another dream. In the middle of 1980, Dean was offered a full-time, year-round job with a home builder in Texas.
So Dean asked his mother for her 1978 red burgundy AMC Concord. Tina and Dean loaded Holly and everything else they could fit into the vehicle and made the cross-country move. At first, they stayed with Dean's cousin in Louisville until they could get on their feet and get their own apartment. During this time, they would often send letters back home to their family in Florida. But in October, Tina sends her last letter and some pictures of Holly back home.
As far as anyone could tell, things were just fine with the family. They'd just gotten their own apartment, and Holly seemed to be thriving. But then the letters just stopped without any explanation. Unfortunately, the police records from this next incident apparently can't be located by law enforcement, so the timeline is a little rough.
But around January 1981, a woman identifying herself as Sister Susan calls Dean's mother to say that Tina and Dean have joined their group, have decided to cut off all contact with their families, and have given up all their worldly possessions.
She adds that she's in Los Angeles and would be happy to return her vehicle in return for a monetary donation to the group. Some sources say $1,000. Sister Susan said that she would arrange to have the car driven from LA back to Florida, and apparently picks a likely arrival date and asks to meet in the parking lot of the Daytona Speedway at midnight.
Dean's mother Donna does call authorities to be involved in the return of her vehicle. When this meeting finally does happen, Donna gets to the Daytona Speedway and waits for midnight. She says that a group of about two to three women and possibly one male drove up in her vehicle. One woman introduced herself as Sister Susan and appeared to be in her late 30s. The others seemed to be younger, but all of them were wearing these white robes. Sister Susan is the only one she spoke with.
Now, according to police, some women were taken into custody at this time, but again, those records can't be located. I don't know if Dean's mother ever paid the $1,000, but she got her vehicle back and some type of explanation for where her son, daughter-in-law, and grandchild were.
Of course, Dean and Tina's families did try to report them missing, but the Daytona Beach police said that since their car had been found and it appeared that they left voluntarily, they couldn't consider them missing persons. So Tina's family actually goes to the Salvation Army, who at this time was tracking missing persons.
The Salvation Army retained this information in their system, but it was never entered into the NCIC for the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to reference. These two things, not being classified as missing persons and not being entered into the NCIC, would change the course of the investigation, these families' lives, and especially baby Holly's life forever.
This episode of Voices for Justice is sponsored by Quince. I can't believe that we are rolling into fall, but we are, which means it's time to refresh your wardrobe. And luckily, Quince offers timeless and high-quality pieces that will not blow your budget.
Like cashmere sweaters from $50, pants for every occasion, washable silk tops, and more. All Quince items are priced 50-80% less than similar brands. And they do that by partnering directly with top factories. That way they cut out the cost of the middleman and pass those savings on to us. At this point, I've tried a little bit of everything from Quince.
I'm still in love with their tencel jersey fit and flare dresses. Especially in Arizona, it's really easy to dress them up or dress them down and add some layers if it gets colder.
Make switching seasons a breeze with Quince's high-quality closet essentials. Go to quince.com slash justice for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. That's q-u-i-n-c-e dot com slash justice to get free shipping and 365-day returns. quince.com slash justice
This episode of Voices for Justice is sponsored by CB Distillery. If you're anything like me, my medicine cabinet was filled with things that just didn't help me. I still couldn't sleep, I was still in pain, and I was still stressed out. So I gave CB Distillery a try, and it has been a real change. And in two non-clinical surveys, 81% of customers experienced more calm.
and 90% said that they slept better with CBD, and I'm a part of that 90%. I've had trouble sleeping for most of my life, and after trying every tea, every pill that I could get my hands on, CBD distilleries' deep sleep gummies have actually worked for me. It not only helps me fall asleep, but it helps me stay asleep, which has been my big problem in the past.
So if you struggle with a health concern and haven't found relief, make the change like I did to CB Distillery. And with over 2 million customers and a solid 100% money-back guarantee, CB Distillery is the source to trust. I have a 20% discount to get you started. Visit cbdistillery.com and use code JUSTICE for 20% off. That's cbdistillery.com, code JUSTICE. cbdistillery.com
By January 1981, Tina and Dean Klaus, along with their about one-year-old daughter Holly, are nowhere to be found. Their families haven't heard from them in weeks, and now they're being told that they've joined this group, given up all their possessions, and have chosen to cut off ties with them out of the blue.
Dean's mother's car has been returned to her, and the police refuse to take a missing person's report. Because to them, they have their answers. The family left on their own accord. Case closed. Tina's brother, Les Lynn, told the media, "...we pretty much thought that they had joined this religious group and didn't want to have contact with us." But while all of this was happening, their families have no idea that Tina and Dean are found deceased.
On January 12, 1981, in East Harris County in Houston, Texas, 250 miles away from their home, a German Shepherd returns home with a decomposing arm in its mouth. Of course, the owner is absolutely horrified and calls police. At this time, local authorities get assistance from inmates at a local prison to conduct a search of the area, and eventually they find Tina and Dean.
They were just a few feet apart from each other in an isolated area by Wallaceville Road in a small group of trees. Dean had been gagged and beaten to death, and Tina had been strangled. They can't say for sure exactly how long they'd been there, but authorities estimated it was about a week.
They also theorized that Dean was possibly killed while he was attempting to defend Tina, but neither of them were found with identification on them, and there were no missing persons reports in the area to cross-reference, so they were known as Harris County Does and eventually buried at the Harris County Cemetery.
They described Tina as being as young as 15, with long, brownish hair that was tied back in a ponytail, and they said it was clear that she had a habit of biting her nails. They believed Dean was 18-25 years old, with dark wavy hair and thick eyebrows. They added that both Tina and Dean had beautiful teeth.
The only evidence that appeared to be found at the scene was a pair of green gym shorts and a bloody towel. It's unclear whether they had been murdered at the scene or had been moved after they were killed. Of course, what they didn't know was that they were missing their one-year-old daughter, Holly. And since no missing persons report was taken and their information was never entered into the NCIC, they remained the Harris County Doe's.
Now, I think it's worth mentioning that the NCIC began allowing entries of missing persons a few years before they went missing in 1975.
And they allowed entries for unidentified remains in 1983, two years after they were found. So not only did they miss the chance for them to be entered as missing persons for law enforcement to reference when they found them, they missed the chance to cross-reference the unidentified body entries when they were later entered into the system after 1983.
A few months after Dean and Tina were found, the county did bring in a sketch artist to help create a flyer in hopes of identifying them. Medical examiner Cecil Wingo said that they considered this pretty much their last shot for identifying them. But it would be decades later before that ever happened. At this point, their families are still looking for them, but they're running out of options. The police won't take a report, but the Salvation Army has their names.
As the years go by, it's becoming more difficult for Dean's mother Donna to even talk about her missing son. So she tries to avoid bringing him and the extremely painful subject up when asked about her family. She said that she saw Dean and so many young men walking down the street over the years. She was always doing a double take, wondering if maybe today was the day she'd find out that her son was okay.
Obviously, I can't speak for all of their loved ones, but in the statements I read and the interviews I watched, it seems that of course they were worried about them. But in their minds, it's entirely possible that Tina and Dean were staying away on purpose and keeping Holly away. That is a very unique, terrible type of pain.
To not know where your loved one is and mull over in your mind your last interactions with them. Did I say something? Did I do something? Maybe I wasn't kind enough. You think back to negative interactions with them from years prior, and you try to piece together if you were so horrible that they felt like they needed to leave and never come back. And then of course, there's the pain of wondering if they are somehow being prevented from coming back.
But while their loved ones dealt with all the complex emotions that came with their disappearances, what they didn't know was that Harris County was trying to put together puzzle pieces trying to solve their murders. I think it's worth mentioning that Tina and Dean, unfortunately, are not the only unsolved double homicides in the county with unidentified victims.
According to the Houston Chronicle, there are three other sets of double homicides in the county dating back to 1973. In that case, two boys were found stacked on top of each other in a mass grave that was used by serial killer Dean Corll.
Now, this guy is just absolutely vile. Authorities believe that he likely sexually assaulted, tortured, and killed dozens of young men and boys in Texas. But these two young boys have yet to be identified. One had straight, shoulder-length brown hair and was wearing red and blue striped swim shorts and brown cowboy-style boots. The other boy had light brown hair that was possibly wavy.
The next case was opened in November 1994, when two males believed to be in their late teens or early twenties were found near the San Jacinto River. One man is believed to be African American, and the other is likely African American or Hispanic.
They had some features that stood out. One man had an underdeveloped rib on his left side, and the other man had an extra vertebrae. They also found $1,090 cash on one of the men.
Just one year later in 1995, two white or possibly Hispanic men were found in a field that was in the process of being cleared for a construction project near the 6300 block of Herman. One man is believed to have been 30 to 45 years old at the time of his death.
He was wearing an extra-large black mesh tank top that was reversible, size 8.5 Nike sneakers, and had a black cloth cross on a black string. The other man was younger, possibly 17-25 years old, and was found wearing Reebok sneakers, a purple and tan shirt, and denim shorts. Both men were missing their upper right front tooth.
As far as I could find, no connections were made to Tina and Dean, but it's really one of the only things I saw mentioned in the media as far as connections. After this, the case sat for decades.
It wasn't until 30 years after they were found that there would be some movement and media coverage in the case. In 2011, after receiving a grant from the National Institute of Justice, the county exumes 25 sets of unidentified remains, including Tina and Dean's.
According to reporting from Lise Olson at the Houston Chronicle, it was theorized that Dean and Tina likely went missing just after the new year in 1981, and were in their teens when they died. The reason their bodies were exhumed was to perform tests to determine if they were somehow related. Now, I couldn't find any follow-up reporting about Tina and Dean.
But of course, we know that they were only related by marriage, not blood, so it obviously wasn't a match for them. And the case would sit for another 10 years.
This episode of Voices for Justice is sponsored by June's Journey. June's Journey is a hidden object mystery game, and you step into the role of June Parker and search for hidden clues to uncover the mystery of her sister's murder. Basically, you engage your observation skills to quickly uncover key pieces of information that lead to chapters of mystery, danger, and romance.
Throughout your investigation, you also customize your very own luxurious estate island. You collect scraps of information to fill your photo album and learn more about each character. But my favorite part is chatting and playing with or against other players by joining a detective club and putting my skills to the test in a detective league.
So, there's kind of two times that I find myself playing June's Journey. One is kind of throughout the day when I just need like a little decompression break, I play a few scenes and get back to work. Or more often than not, when I'm laying down for the night, I tend to play then too. For me, it's a nice way to unwind, decompress, and get lost in a mystery. Discover your inner detective when you download June's Journey for free today on iOS and Android.
This episode of Voices for Justice is sponsored by Ibotta. Are you planning your dream vacation but dreading the cost?
With Ibotta, you get cash back on all your purchases, so you can spend more time making memories and less time dreaming about them. Ibotta is a free app that lets you earn cash back every time you shop. You can earn on hundreds of items you buy every day, from groceries to beauty supplies and even toys. The average Ibotta user earns $256 per year.
That's a plane ticket, a shopping trip, or even a fancy dinner. And they have so many brands, over 2,400. Lowe's, Macy's, Sephora, Best Buy, and more. I've been using Ibotta for a really long time. It's one way that I make every penny stretch. And right now, Ibotta is offering our listeners $5 just for trying Ibotta by using the code CRIME when you register.
Just go to the App Store or Google Play Store and download the free Ibotta app to start earning cash back and use code CRIME. That's I-B-O-T-T-A in the Google Play Store or App Store, and use code CRIME. By the year 2021, Tina, Dean, and Holly Klaus have been missing for 40 years. Tina and Dean were found way back in 1981, but their bodies were never identified.
And of course, law enforcement had no idea that their Harris County does also had a child that was missing. Tina and Dean's bodies are exhumed in 2011 for testing, but it doesn't lead to them being identified. But finally, in October 2021, thanks in part to funding from media company AudioChuck, Dean and Tina's genetic information was uploaded to GEDmatch by the organization Identifiers International.
Within just 10 days, they were able to find some of Dean's relatives in Kentucky, and eventually Dean's sister, Debbie Brooks. I can't even imagine how insane this call must have felt for all parties involved. But the genealogist called Debbie's house to ask her about Dean, but Debbie's at work.
So her husband calls her and says, hey, these two genealogists are trying to get a hold of you. Debbie outright thinks it's some type of scam. But she calls them back. They ask her if she has a relative that went missing a long time ago, and she says, yes, my brother Dean. And this is when they tell her that Dean and an unidentified young woman had been found 40 years ago in Harris County and have been unidentified for this entire time.
They also explain that they are obviously trying to figure out who that young woman is. Now, again, I can't even imagine the thoughts that had to have been going through Debbie's head at this point, but she explains that the woman was probably Dean's wife, Tina. And at this point, Debbie asks about Holly. Of course, they don't have any information about Holly or even knew she existed, so everyone is just kind of in awe.
They have Tina and Dean, but if Holly wasn't found with them, where is she? Eventually, they track down Dean and Tina's marriage license, contact Tina's family, and an official missing persons case is finally opened for baby Holly.
Of course, there are a lot of big emotions surrounding all of this. It's been 40 years, and these families are not only hearing that Tina and Dean lost their lives, but that they've been unidentified for 40 years. And now there's this huge question of where Holly went.
January 24th, 2022 marked Holly's 42nd birthday. On a GoFundMe page that was helping raise funds to find Holly, and specifically to test those coming forward believing they could be Holly, her aunt Tess wrote her a poem. Quote, "'Happy birthday, Holly Marie. Where did the time go? Where did it flee? I only remember you as a tiny child, one that could always make this aunt smile.'"
You had a beauty like your mom and contagious laughter. Bringing you home is my ultimate goal and what I'm after. Happy birthday, sweet girl. I pray we meet soon. I pray someone comes forward with the knowledge that investigators need. I pray they are brave enough to tell what they must tell. I pray the information leads to an arrest. Finally, Holly Marie, I wish you only the best."
By March, both families travel to Houston to the area where Dean and Tina's bodies were found, as well as to visit the cemetery where they were buried. A local news station actually captured some of this moment on camera, and Dean's brother is basically sobbing, yelling, telling people that they need to clear a path so his mother can get to the area. You can just feel the raw pain in his voice.
But the good news is, this is when the case to find Holly really starts ramping up. The Texas Attorney General's office takes over to find Holly and the people responsible for killing Tina and Dean. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children also creates an age-progressed photo for her. Then, three months later in June 2022, it happens. They find baby Holly.
She's 42, living in Oklahoma with her husband of 20 years, and has five kids of her own and two grandkids. Now, Holly has asked for some privacy in the media, so she doesn't say much about her upbringing, but we know that she was adopted as a baby.
On what would have been Dean's 63rd birthday, on June 7th, 2022, just a few hours after Holly finds out about her real identity, she speaks with her family over a Zoom call. Here is what her family had to tell ABC 13 in Houston. I just wanted to hug her. I just wanted to get up and hug her so bad. But it was Zoom, and you can't. To know that she's finally safe. Yeah.
That's a really good feeling. She has her mother's smile and she has her mother's voice. Yeah. To the T. Yeah, she's very soft. Very soft. Very soft-spoken. It's like getting a piece of Junior and Tina back. Yes. Yes. You know, a part of them. Two days later, on June 9, 2022, a press conference is held to announce that Holly had been found.
And we get a lot more information about how Holly was found safe as a baby, and the current efforts to find her parents' killers.
Through collaborative efforts of the Texas Attorney General's Office Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit, the Louisville Police Department, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office in Florida, the Arizona Attorney General's Office, the Harris County Sheriff's Office, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, I'm excited to announce that baby Holly has been located alive and well 42 years later.
I also am happy to announce that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children have offered and will be paying for Holly to be reunited in person with the Lynn and Klaus families. Holly has been notified of the identities of her biological parents and got to meet her extended biological family for the first time this Tuesday.
They hope to meet in person soon and NCMEC, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is going to facilitate that meeting. This investigation highlights the hard work and collaboration of multiple law enforcement agencies working together across the country and demonstrates the importance of continuing to investigate cold cases both in Texas and in the United States. Now, this next part I'm sharing with you today because we're asking
from for help from the public because we have yet to solve this particular crime. While we rejoice today that Holly has been found and families that were looking for decades rejoice, we still are looking for suspects in this case.
And I want to share that information with you and I want to say this again. If you have information in this case, and I'm about to share some facts with you, but if you have information about this case, please contact the Texas Attorney General's Office Cold Case Unit at [email protected]. That's [email protected]. And our phone number as well for this investigation is 512-936-0742.
The following information is released today regarding our investigation and hopes that people will hear this story and come forward with more information. Baby Holly was left at a church in Arizona and was taken into their care. Out of respect for Holly and her family, we won't have any further comments or details regarding that at this time. The family that raised Holly are not suspects in this case.
Two women who identified themselves as members of a nomadic religious group brought Holly to the church. They were wearing white robes and they were barefoot. They indicated the beliefs of their religion included the separation of male and female members, practicing vegetarian habits, and not using or wearing leather goods. The women indicated they had given up a baby before at a laundromat. It is believed that this particular group traveled around southwestern United States
including Arizona, California, and possibly Texas. There were sightings of this religious group around the Yuma, Arizona area in the early 80s. The women members would be seen around town at various points asking for food. In late December 1980, or early January 1981, the families of Tina Lynn Klaus and Harold Dean Klaus received a phone call from someone identifying herself as "Sister Susan."
who explained she was calling from Los Angeles, California and wanted to return Tina and Dean's car to their family. She further stated that Tina and Dean had joined their religious group and no longer wanted to have contact with their families. They were also giving up all of their possessions. Sister Susan asked for money in exchange for returning the car to Florida where the family lived. The family agreed but contacted the local authorities about the situation.
the family agreed to meet Sister Susan at the Daytona Racetrack in Florida. The family described meeting two to three women and possibly one male. And once again, these women were wearing robes and appeared to be members of this religious group. The police purportedly took the women into custody, but there's no record of a police report on file that has been found as of yet. Given the age of this case, that is common. We're still on the hunt for that police report.
The return car belonged to Dean's mother and was in fact the car that they had in their possession. And this is the description of the vehicle. It's a 1978 two-door red burgundy AMC Concord. Tina Lynn Klaus and Harold Dean Klaus were likely murdered between December 1980 or early January 1981.
Their bodies were found off of Wallaceville Road in Harris County, Texas. I'm going to repeat that. Their bodies were found off of Wallaceville Road in Harris County, Texas. And this was between January 6 and January 11 of 1981. They were last heard from by their families in late October 1980, and they had been living in Louisville, Texas in October of 1980 around that time. If you have any information regarding
these murders, we ask that you come forward. Even if it's a piece of information that may not be concrete evidence, we need to find pieces of the puzzle to solve this crime. The Texas AG's Office Cold Case Unit and the law enforcement agencies that work with us are committed to bringing justice in this case.
We wish Holly the best. We're grateful that we found her. But we must continue with our purpose of finding who murdered this couple. As of recording this episode, that was just a few weeks ago. So that's pretty much where the case is today.
Of course, I think the prevailing theory here is that the group that returned Dean's mother's car is the same group that dropped Holly off at the church in Arizona, and are likely the same group involved in her parents' murders. Which brings me right to our call to action. Obviously, there were many people that were likely involved in either the murders of Tina and Dean, and or the transportation of Holly to that church in Arizona.
So although that I fully, deep down in my soul, believe that in most cases, someone knows something, I think that is especially applicable here. So please share this story. Specifically the details of Dean's car being returned and Holly being taken to the church. Someone has to know who these people are.
I also have a second call to action that's pretty specific. Now, let me preface this by saying that this is in no way to shame either Tina or Dean's families at all. If you have a long-term missing loved one from decades ago in your family that police have never taken a report for, or if you have no idea if they've even been reported missing, report them missing.
When I went to an event for missing teen Alicia Navarro earlier this year, I met a man who told me that his mom had been missing for decades, and he had no idea if she had been reported missing, or if he could still report her missing. He didn't know what his options were. So I want to tell you right here, right now, that you can absolutely go to police decades after the fact to report your loved one missing.
If they don't take you seriously, try again. And ask for a supervisor. If that doesn't work, ask for their rejection to take a report in writing. They can also help you determine if a report has already been filed and what the current status of the case is.
So again, this isn't to shame Tina and Dean's families. For all I know, they could have very well tried to report them missing later on, and it's just never been discussed in the media. But when I met this man at this event, it occurred to me that there are probably many families that don't understand what their options are. So I wanted to discuss it here since it seems especially relevant.
Last, I want to say that if you're fighting for a loved one that has been missing for decades or was murdered decades ago, please don't give up hope. This story is just one of many that has seen new progress after decades of being stagnant. I know it sounds cheesy, but I fully believe that there is always hope.
As a reminder, Tina and Dean Klaus were found murdered in Houston, Texas in January 1981 off Wallaceville Road. Tina was 18 and Dean was 22 years old. Both were white with brown hair, with Tina's hair having more of a red tint to it. The family would have been traveling in a 1978 red burgundy AMC Concord before it was returned to Dean's mother in 1981.
Anyone with information should contact the Texas Attorney General's Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit at 512-936-0742. Or you can email coldcaseunit at oag.texas.gov. But as always, thank you, I love you, and I'll talk to you next time.
Voices for Justice is hosted and produced by me, Sarah Turney, and is a Voices for Justice media original. To hear more stories hosted by me, check out my other podcast, Disappearances, only on Spotify. And for even more content, or if you just want to support the show, check out my Patreon page at patreon.com slash voices for justice. Welcome to the secret after show, my friends.
I hope you're all doing okay out there. Now, I did want to give you an update because we have closed out the quarter, and that means that I'm able to make my merch donation. So I wanted to let you know with all of your help through all of the merch sales, I was able to donate about $500 to the Black and Missing Foundation. So thank you.
I also want to let you know that for this next quarter, all proceeds from the merch will be going to Season of Justice. Now, if you aren't familiar with Season of Justice, I do want to tell you for full disclosure, I am on the board of that nonprofit. But Season of Justice funds exactly what happened in this episode.
Essentially, Season of Justice offers grants for law enforcement and families to help solve cold cases. On the law enforcement side, we offer grants for testing just like this. On the family member side, we offer grants for things like billboards, social media ads, and flyers. To learn more about Season of Justice, or if you or a family out there who needs a billboard, please, please, please visit seasonofjustice.org.
Now, don't let that family application intimidate you. There are a lot of fields on there, you know, that we would love for you to fill out. But if you can't, please just indicate that in the notes and say, I'm not sure I need help and someone will help you. But that's it for me for updates. Again, I hope everybody is doing okay out there right now.
But as always, thank you for tolerating me. I love you, and I'll talk to you next time.