AUSTIN (KXAN) — After 34 years, the Austin Police Department announced Friday it linked a suspect to the murder of four girls who were found inside a burning business in 1991. The incident was later known as the “Yogurt Shop Murders.”

The suspect was identified as Robert Eugene Brashers, who committed suicide in 1999. Police said Brashers was identified through DNA and ballistics testing.

Brashers was linked to the deaths of 17-year-old Eliza Thomas, 17-year-old Jennifer Harbison and her sister, 15-year-old Sarah, and 13-year-old Amy Ayers.

In 2024, KXAN reached out to APD related to DNA testing and tracing technology it utilizes in cases such as the Yogurt Shop Murders.

APD said it did not have written guidelines about when to use investigative genealogy.

“We work with the scientists

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