One of America’s most disturbing cold cases has been solved after more than 30 years of no answers. This week, police in Austin announced that the guilty party of the 1991 Yoghurt shop murders is Robert Eugene Brashers, a convicted felon, who died by suicide in 1999. The case left a lasting scar on the city and haunted it for years.

On December 6, 1991, four teenage girls, Amy Ayers (13), Eliza Thomas (17), Jennifer Harbison (17) and Sarah Harbison (15) were viciously murdered in a yoghurt shop. Their bodies were found bound, shot, and set on fire. The terrible crime traumatized Texas and led to numerous arrests and wrongful convictions, but ultimately no resolution in the case.

As time passed, advances in DNA technology, coupled with genetic genealogy, changed the case. Evidence that the fire had damaged was retested, and advances in methods allowed the extraction of usable genetic material. From genealogy databases, forensic genetics established a familial connection between the DNA and Brashers.

Brashers, who had a history of violent felonies, including sexual assaults and attempted murder in the Midwest, took his own life in 1999 while already involved in a police standoff. Although he will never face justice in the form of a trial, investigators emphasize that this identification provides closure after a long wait. For the families of the victims, this is a relief, but it is also immeasurably painful. One family member said, “We’ve waited 34 years for answers and finally, science has provided us with the truth.”

Investigators identified this case and how forensic science has prevailed, stating that with time and technology, justice can be served even 34 years later.