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During the 6th of December, 1991, Jennifer Harbison and Eliza Thomas, both seventeen years old, were finishing their shift at the yogurt store where they worked. Waiting for a ride home were Jennifer's 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 store summoned emergency crews, who made a grim discovery: the four girls had been tied up, murdered, and showed indicators of assault. The blaze eliminated nearly all evidence, except for a cartridge that had ended up in a drain and trace amounts of biological evidence, notably evidence beneath Amy Ayers' nails.

The Murders That Rocked Austin

The yogurt shop murders traumatized the city of Austin and were branded as one of the most infamous unsolved mysteries in America. Over many years of investigative roadblocks and wrongful convictions, the murders eventually led to a federal law enacted in the year 2022 that permits victims' families to petition cold cases to be reopened.

Yet the crimes remained unsolved for almost thirty-four years – before this development.

A Major Breakthrough

Law enforcement officials revealed on Monday a "significant breakthrough" driven by advanced techniques in ballistics and forensic science, said the Austin mayor at a press conference.

Forensic clues indicate Robert Eugene Brashers, who was named posthumously as a repeat offender. Additional killings may be added to his record as genetic testing continue to improve and widespread.

"The sole forensic clue located at the crime scene has been matched to him," stated the top law enforcement officer.

This investigation isn't closed yet, but this represents a "huge leap", and the individual is believed to be the sole perpetrator, authorities stated.

Closure for Loved Ones

Eliza's sister, Sonora, said that her psyche was fractured following her sister was murdered.

"One half of my brain has been screaming, 'What happened to my sister?', and the remaining part kept repeating, 'I will never know. I'll go to my grave unaware, and I have to be OK with that,'" she recalled.

When she learned about this progress in the case, "both sides of my thinking started melding," she noted.

"I know now what happened, and that relieves my pain."

Innocent Men Exonerated

This development not only bring closure to the victims' families; it also definitively absolves two men, who were teens then, who insisted they were pressured into admitting guilt.

Springsteen, then 17 years old when the murders occurred, was given a death sentence, and Michael Scott, who was 15, was sentenced to life. Both men asserted they only confessed following marathon interviews in the year 1999. In 2009, they were freed after their convictions were thrown out due to court rulings on admissions lacking tangible proof.

Prosecutors withdrew the case against Springsteen and Scott in the same period after a genetic test, called Y-STR, showed neither man corresponded against the DNA samples found at the murder site.

The Investigation Advances

The Y-STR profile – indicating an unknown man – would in time be the key in resolving the murders. In recent years, the DNA profile was submitted for retesting because of scientific progress – but a nationwide inquiry to investigative bodies yielded no results.

In June, Daniel Jackson assigned to the investigation in recently, had an idea. It had been since the ballistics from the spent round had been entered to the NIBIN database – and in the interim, the registry had been significantly improved.

"The software has improved dramatically. I mean, we're talking like 3D stuff now," Jackson stated at the media briefing.

They got a match. An unsolved murder in the state of Kentucky, with a comparable method, had the matching variety of bullet casing. Jackson and a cold case expert spoke to the Kentucky detectives, who are continuing to investigate their unnamed case – and are analyzing evidence from a rape kit.

Linking Multiple Crimes

The apparent breakthrough made the detective wonder. Could there be any other evidence that might link with crimes in different locations? He recalled instantly of the genetic testing – but there was a obstacle. The Codis database is the countrywide system for investigators, but the yogurt shop DNA was insufficiently intact and minimal to submit.

"I suggested, well, time has passed. Additional facilities are conducting this analysis. Systems are expanding. We should conduct a countrywide check again," Jackson stated.

He distributed the years-old genetic findings to law enforcement agencies across the United States, asking them to manually compare it to their own databases.

There was another hit. The profile aligned exactly with a genetic evidence from a city in South Carolina – a 1990 murder that was resolved with assistance from forensic experts and a celebrated genealogist in recent years.

Identifying the Killer

The genealogist developed a family tree for the offender and located a relative whose genetic material indicated a direct relationship – likely a close relative. A magistrate authorized that the suspect's remains be dug up, and his genetic material matched against the crime scene sample.

Normally, she is can move on from solved cases in order to focus on the following case.

"But I have {not been