DNA test helps missing teen’s family get closure after 27 years
ASHLAND, Ohio (WJW) – Paula Clevidence spent years heartbroken and wondering what happened to her daughter, Mindy.
“She just disappeared,” Clevidence told the FOX 8 I-Team Wednesday. “We couldn’t find any answers.”
Clevidence said in 1996, Mindy, who was 17 years old and a junior in high school, was struggling and having some issues. She was sent to a group home in Dayton where she was suppose to be getting help.
The teen, however, left the group home without her parents’ knowledge. They never saw her again.
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“I didn’t know it right away because I had mailed some things to her and then found out she wasn’t there to get them,” Clevidence said. “We talked to the sheriff’s department, our lawyer, trying to find out where she was, but all we found out is that she went to Detroit, Michigan.”
Paula and her family searched for nearly three decades, hoping to find Mindy or find out what happened to her.
But they didn’t receive any answers until this summer when Paula’s granddaughter got a home DNA test.
“She wanted to learn about her Irish ancestors,” Clevidence said. “A short time after she took the test, my daughter called me and said I better sit down. She had some news for me.”
Clevidence said the family learned that a relative had been found murdered in Highland Park, Michigan in 1996. After additional DNA tests, they were able to determine the murder victim was Mindy.
“God directed the detectives to keep going at it because it has been so many years,” Clevidence said. “My granddaughter just out of the blue had that test done that led her to us. It’s a God thing.”
Detectives in Michigan brought Paula her daughter’s ashes a few weeks ago. Highland Park police are now trying to find the person responsible for killing Mindy.
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Highland Park police provided the I-Team the following statement:
First, I want Mindy’s family to know that our thoughts and prayers go out to them. We recognize this is a very difficult time and although it brings some closure it also brings forth painful memories and unanswered questions.
The Highland Park Police Department is grateful to our partners, The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Intermountain Forensics, Innovative Forensic Investigations, The Michigan State Police and The Wayne County Prosecutors Office. I would like to thank Detective Kelly Dupuis from the Wayne County Prosecutors Office and Carol Schweitzer from The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for never giving up on identifying Mindy even after we were unsuccessful in the beginning. They also ensured that funding was available to pursue DNA testing. The work that all these groups put into this is nothing short of amazing. Without the above-listed partners this would not have been possible.
The Highland Park Police Department will continue our partnership and we won’t stop until all Jane and John Does are given their names.
Identifying Mindy is an early step in the process. Now it’s time to get justice for Mindy. It’s been more than 27 years since her murder, but I believe someone has information that could lead to the arrest of her killer. I ask if you have any information regarding Mindy’s case please contact The Highland Park Police Department.
Chief James McMahon
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