Shivangi Sinha
October 1980 was the last time Dean Clouse’s family spoke to him. As the months passed, they grew increasingly worried. Eventually, they received a strange phone call informing them that Dean and his wife, Tina Clouse, had joined a religious group and would no longer be in contact with their family. They never heard from the couple again. It was only in 2021 that the family was informed that Dean and Tina had been identified as having died decades earlier. ABC’s ’20/20′, particularly the episode ‘Baby Holly Found’, features accounts from several members of Dean’s family, including his mother, Donna Casasanta, who spoke about the long search for answers.
Donna Casasanta Got a Strange Call After Her Son Stopped Contacting Her
Donna Ruth Allen was born on September 17, 1941, to Earl and Mildred Allen. She and her brothers, Clyde and Jerry, were raised in Baisden, West Virginia. Donna eventually married Harold Dean Clouse Sr., and the couple settled in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. They built a large and happy family, with their children, Debra, Cheryl, Tess, Donna and Dean, completing their lives. In their busy household, Donna said that each of her children had a different personality. After her husband passed away in 1966, Donna found love again in Venanzio George Casasanta and got married. She had another son, Venanzio Christopher Casasanta, and felt she had gotten all she wanted. Speaking about Dean, she recalled that he was always the most nurturing and kind.
When Dean and his wife, Tina Clouse, decided to move to Texas, she was happy for them. She continued speaking to them and writing to them regularly. Only a few months later, in October 1980, Dean and Tina stopped responding to messages from their families. Donna said she did not think much of it at first, but as time passed, she began to feel that something was wrong. After the holidays, in January 1981, she reported them missing, although the search initially produced no answers. A few days later, Donna said she allegedly received a strange phone call from a woman who told her that Dean and Tina had joined a religious group and planned to cut off contact with their families. She was also reportedly told that their car would be returned to her. A few days later, Donna said, two women dressed in white robes drove the car to the family’s home in Florida and left.
Donna Casasanta Became an Advocate for DNA-sharing to Solve Cold Cases
Donna Ruth Allen Clouse Casasanta said she waited for years, hoping Dean would contact her, but it was not until January 2021 that she received a call from investigators. Using genetic genealogy, two previously unidentified sets of remains found in a wooded area of Harris County, Texas, were identified as those of Dean and Tina. Their deaths were determined to be homicides, and Donna immediately asked what had happened to her granddaughter, Holly Marie. The search for Holly then began. Despite her age, Donna later traveled with members of Dean and Tina’s families to the location where their remains had been recovered. She said the experience brought her a sense of closeness to them.
When Holly was found in June 2022, Donna called it a gift from heaven, as it happened to be Dean’s birthday. In September 2019, she co-authored the book ‘Little Girl in the Wall’ with one of her daughters. Donna was also the inspiration behind the Dean and Tina Linn Clouse Memorial Fund, established by both families, and she became an advocate for the use of DNA and genetic genealogy to help solve cold cases. Her efforts also inspired the creation of Genealogy for Justice. Donna died on October 10, 2023, surrounded by her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She left behind a long life marked by the search for answers about the son she never forgot.
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Harold Dean Clouse’s Siblings Are Hopeful for Justice Even Today
In 2020, when police began working on the cold case involving Harold Dean and Tina Clouse, the couple had still not been identified. Using genetic genealogy, investigators traced the remains to Debra “Debbie” Clouse, who became the first member of the family to receive a call from law enforcement asking whether anyone in her family was missing. Debbie said her greatest fear was learning what had happened to her niece, Holly Marie. She was deeply concerned that the same fate might have befallen the child. When Holly was finally located, Debbie breathed a sigh of relief. In 2019, she co-authored the book ‘Little Girl in the Wall’ with her mother. She has remained outspoken about the case and has publicly appealed to those responsible to come forward and provide the family with answers.
Dean’s siblings, Cheryl Clouse, Tess Welch, Donna Kay May and Christopher “Chris” Casasanta, have also been involved in advocacy work and remain integral to the Dean and Tina Linn Clouse Memorial Fund. They have all reunited with Holly and consider her an important part of the family. In 2022, they were able to lay Dean and Tina to rest. Cheryl is now based in Phenix City, Alabama, while Tess lives in Elk Garden, West Virginia, and has been married to Melvin Welch since 2019. Donna is based in Rocky Mount, Virginia, while Chris and his wife, Melissa, live in Daytona Beach, Florida. Their lives have since been filled with children and grandchildren, but the family continues to carry the loss they endured. They hope investigators will eventually uncover the truth about the person responsible for the tragedy that tore their family apart.
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