Connect with us

Austin, TX

The Yogurt Shop Murders: Inside The 1991 Slaying Of Four Teenage Girls That Remains Unsolved To This Day

Published

on

The Yogurt Shop Murders: Inside The 1991 Slaying Of Four Teenage Girls That Remains Unsolved To This Day


On December 6, 1991, four girls were brutally murdered at an I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt! shop in Austin, Texas — and the case remains unsolved to this day.

HBOThe four victims of the Austin Yogurt Shop Murders, Eliza Thomas, Amy Ayers, Sarah Harbison, and Jennifer Harbison.

Shortly before midnight on Dec. 6, 1991, a patrol officer in Austin, Texas, noticed a fire at an “I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt!” shop. When firefighters responded, they discovered more than a fire inside — they discovered the nude bodies of four teenage girls who’d been bound and shot to death. With that, the investigation into the Austin Yogurt Shop murders began.

To this day, the mystery still hasn’t been solved. Police have still not found the killer, or killers, who murdered 17-year-old Jennifer Harbison, her sister 15-year-old Sarah Harbison, 17-year-old Eliza Thomas, and 13-year-old Amy Ayers, on that terrible December night back in 1991.

Over the years, multiple people have confessed. But even though two men were convicted in the early 2000s, those convictions were later overturned. That said, investigators have not lost hope, and are determined to use modern technology like DNA testing to finally crack the case.

Advertisement

This is everything you need to know about the Austin Yogurt Shop murders, one of the most chilling cold cases in American history.

Inside The 1991 Austin Yogurt Shop Murders

The story of the Austin Yogurt Shop murders began on Dec. 6, 1991. That evening, two girls were working at an I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt! shop in Austin, Texas: 17-year-old Eliza Thomas and 17-year-old Jennifer Harbison. That night, Jennifer’s 15-year-old sister Sarah was in the shop, as well as Sarah’s friend, 13-year-old Amy Ayers.

Interior Of The Yogurt Shop

HBOThe interior of the yogurt shop where the girls’ bodies were found.

No one knows exactly what happened to the girls that night. But shortly before midnight, a patrol officer making his rounds noticed smoke coming from the shop. He called in the fire department, and, inside, the firefighters found the bodies of Jennifer, Sarah, Thomas, and Ayers.

The girls had been stripped, bound and gagged, and shot in the head. At least one had been sexually assaulted.

Advertisement

But though investigators suspected that the murders could be the result of a robbery gone wrong — as money was missing from the store’s cash register — much of the evidence at the scene was destroyed by fire and water.

Burned Yogurt Shop

Austin Police DepartmentFire ripped through the store, destroying much of the evidence.

Not only had the fire torn through the entire shop, destroying crucial evidence, but it had also burned the girls’ bodies beyond recognition. Store manager Reese Price, who was then 24 years old, was called in to identify her employees and found that she couldn’t.

“There wasn’t anything there to identify,” Price stated in the HBO docuseries The Yogurt Shop Murders. “Fire is very destructive. It’s not forgiving.”

Despite these challenges, investigators set out to determine who had killed the girls.

Advertisement

Constructing The Profile Of The Killer — Or Killers

Given the destruction of the scene, investigators had very little to go on. They knew that the killer or killers had used two different guns: a .380 pistol and a .22 revolver, according to the Austin Chronicle. But much of the early investigation into the Yogurt Shop Murders was guesswork.

Melted Phone In The Yogurt Shop

Austin Police DepartmentThe fire inside the yogurt shop destroyed crucial evidence after the girls were murdered.

The FBI ultimately developed a profile of the likely killer or killers, describing them as “underachievers” probably “in their late teens to early twenties” who resented “any form of discipline.” The profile suggested that the killers had committed the murders under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and that they likely had a past criminal history.

Boiling down the profile to a single word, police described their suspect as a “thug.”

I Cant Believe Its Yogurt Shop

HBOThe exterior of the yogurt shop where the four girls were killed in 1991.

Advertisement

But despite a cash reward for any information about the Austin Yogurt Shop murders, it would take years for police to make any arrests. When they did, it was because they’d circled back to some of their earliest suspects.

The Austin Police Arrest Four Men In Connection With The Yogurt Shop Murders

The first arrests in the Yogurt Shop Murders came after investigators examined one of their old leads. Just eight days after the quadruple homicide, police had arrested 16-year-old Maurice Pierce. Pierce had been caught wandering around Northcross Mall, near the I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt! shop, carrying a .22 caliber revolver.

Pierce’s gun was the same type of weapon that had been used in the Yogurt Shop Murders. And, under questioning, Pierce claimed that he had participated in the homicides alongside three other boys: 15-year-old Forrest Welborn, 17-year-old Michael Scott, and 17-year-old Robert Springsteen IV. However, there was no evidence tying them to the crime scene and police ultimately concluded that Pierce “was lying and had just made up the whole story about the gun being used,” according to court records.

But eight years later, in 1999, police reexamined Pierce’s story. They re-interviewed Scott that September and, after a lengthy interrogation, Scott confessed to the murders and implicated the three others. Police then interrogated Springsteen, who also confessed, and claimed that he had sexually assaulted one of the girls.

Police Interrogation

Austin Police DepartmentPolice interrogated two suspects in 1999. Both confessed. And yet both convictions were eventually overturned.

Advertisement

With that, Scott, Springsteen, Welborn, and Pierce were arrested and charged with capital murder. Though charges against Welborn and Pierce were ultimately dropped due to lack of evidence, Scott and Springsteen went to trial.

Both men plead not guilty and claimed that their confessions were coerced. But they were found guilty. Springsteen was sentenced to death in 2001, and Scott was sentenced to life in prison in 2002.

But neither of the two convictions would stick.

The Case Against Scott And Springsteen Falls Apart

After Scott and Springsteen were found guilty for the Austin Yogurt Shop murders, flaws emerged in their conviction. Their separate confessions had been used against each other, but Scott and Springsteen weren’t permitted to question each other in court, a violation of the Sixth Amendment.

Michael Scott And Robert Springsteen

Austin ChronicleYearbook photos of Michael Scott and Robert Springsteen.

Advertisement

What’s more, it came out that Pierce’s gun was not a definitive match to the .22 used during the quadruple homicide, and that investigators had held a gun to Scott’s head during his interrogation.

In 2006, Springsteen’s conviction was overturned. In 2007, so was Scott’s. Hoping to retry the men, investigators then turned to DNA testing, which had advanced since the 1990s. But, to their surprise, an examination of male DNA found at the scene determined that it was not a match to Scott or Springsteen — or even to Pierce or Welborn.

With that, the Austin Yogurt Murder Case went colder than ever. But investigators are still hopeful that they’ll be able to one day solve it.

Will The Austin Yogurt Murders Ever Be Solved?

If Scott and Springsteen were not involved in the murders, who killed Eliza Thomas, Amy Ayers, and Jennifer and Sarah Harbison in 1991? The case remains unsolved. But investigators haven’t given up.

Although DNA at the scene did not match the four suspects, investigators are still hopeful that it will be a match to someone, some day. Though there are no matches right now, advances in DNA technology might help solve this cold case for good in the near future.

Advertisement

Indeed, Detective Dan Jackson, who took over the case in 2022, remains optimistic that it could be solved.

“If I didn’t think I could solve it, then why get up every day?” Jackson told USA Today in 2025. “I think that with new technology, new information that we have − that I can’t go into — even since I’ve taken the case over, the ability to do more with less when it comes to forensics is light-years ahead than it was a few years ago.”

“I am confident that I will solve this,” Jackson declared.


After reading about the unsolved case of the Austin Yogurt Shop murders, go inside the stories of mysterious disappearances that remain unsolved to this day. Or, discover the story of the unsolved murders at Lumber Baron Inn.

Advertisement



Source link

Austin, TX

Lawsuit: Brianna Aguilera’s parents allege underage alcohol service at Austin tailgate contributed to daughter’s death

Published

on

Lawsuit: Brianna Aguilera’s parents allege underage alcohol service at Austin tailgate contributed to daughter’s death


The parents of Brianna Aguilera have filed a lawsuit against two organizations, alleging that they served alcohol to their underage daughter which contributed to her death in Austin.

Before Aguilera fell to her death from the Rio 21 Apartments in West Campus, the lawsuit states that she attended a tailgate at the Austin Blacks Rugby Club’s facility, organized by the UT Latin Economics and Business Association.

Both the Austin Blacks Rugby Club and the UT Latin Economics and Business Association were listed as defendants in the lawsuit.

>> What we know about Texas A&M student Brianna Aguilera’s death in Austin

Advertisement

Even though the lawsuit states Aguilera was “noticeably intoxicated” at the tailgate, her parents argue that the defendants continued to serve her alcohol.

According to court documents, Aguilera allegedly began stumbling at the tailgate and needed help standing at times. At some point, the lawsuit said she fell into the woods and lost her phone.

After leaving the tailgate at approximately 10 p.m., court documents state Aguilera died around two hours later.

The lawsuit also accuses the defendants of negligence and gross negligence for serving alcohol to Aguilera despite her age and allegedly overserving her.

In the suit, Aguilera’s parents demanded a trial by jury and sought at least $1 million plus interest, costs and punitive damages.

Advertisement

Aguilera’s parents also seek damages for wrongful death, citing the defendants’ alleged misconduct.

Houston-based attorney Tony Buzbee, who’s representing the Aguilera family, commented on the lawsuit in a Tuesday news conference.

Watch the full news conference below:

“Brianna was obviously overserved,” Buzbee said. “Even the police have concluded that she was overserved at that tailgate. She was not 21.”

Buzbee also stated that the Austin Police Department has allegedly told multiple witnesses not to talk with him and Aguilera’s parents.

Advertisement

“They told the three, the three individuals that were in that apartment that night when this young girl died. They told them, do not speak to Brianna’s mother or her lawyers,” Buzbee said.

He said that the lawsuit could provide a way for the witnesses to eventually come forward with information.

“By filing this lawsuit, not only will we hold accountable an entity or entities that were involved in overserving Brianna and other minors, but we will also be able to subpoena individuals and documents and video and data so we can continue our investigation,” Buzbee said.

KSAT’s sister station, KPRC, has reached out to both the Austin Blacks Rugby Club and the UT Latin Economics and Business Association for comment on the lawsuit. This story will be updated once the organizations provide a statement.


More coverage of this story on KSAT:

Advertisement

Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.



Source link

Continue Reading

Austin, TX

Cedar pollen eases, but record heat builds across Central Texas

Published

on

Cedar pollen eases, but record heat builds across Central Texas


Although record-breaking heat and spring-like warmth dominated the first few days of the new year, cooler — but still warmer than normal —temperatures settled in to start the first work week of 2026.

The heat will ramp up yet again Tuesday and Wednesday, with temperatures about 20 degrees above the normal early-January high of 62 degrees. 

Expect a blanket of low stratus clouds and some patchy dense fog Tuesday morning, but skies should begin clearing around lunchtime.

“In the meantime, a surface trough (of low atmospheric pressure)/dry line will push from the southern Edwards Plateau into the I-35 corridor, bringing temperatures into the lower to mid-80s,” meteorologists with the National Weather Service wrote in a forecast discussion Monday. “It is going to be very warm for this time of year, and some daily high temperature records could be broken.”

Advertisement

Those temperatures could rival record highs at both Austin climate observation sites, Camp Mabry and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, where the standing record is 84 degrees, set in 1989.

Behind the dry line Tuesday, drier air will move into Central Texas, leading to a slightly cooler start Wednesday under mostly to partly cloudy skies.

Morning temperatures will dip into the 50s around sunrise before climbing into the upper 70s to mid-80s by the afternoon. Those highs would surpass the record of 80 degrees set in 2008 at Camp Mabry.

Temperatures the rest of the week will remain above normal with mostly cloudy mornings but sunny afternoons. 

A cold front is forecast to move across the region later in the week with a slight rain chance Thursday and Friday, but most of the rain will fall north and east of Austin. However, cooler and more seasonable weather is expected this weekend. 

Advertisement

This past weekend, Austin experienced the highest cedar pollen counts so far this season with a count of 3,200 grains per cubic meter Saturday and a peak of 4,000 grains per cubic meter on Sunday. However, the count dropped to just over 1,000 grams per cubic meter on Monday. Humidity has been on the rise in the past few days, and winds have been much lighter. Those factors have helped “settle” the cedar pollen for the time being. 

Luckily, the winds have turned southerly and are much lighter, so the pollen has settled a bit. A small chance of rain on Thursday and Friday should also help dampen cedar pollen before it becomes airborne. However, above-normal temperatures will allow tree pollen cones to continue opening, setting the stage for another pollen surge when the next breezy cold front arrives.



Source link

Continue Reading

Austin, TX

Venezuelan oil reboot not expected to spur windfall in Texas

Published

on

Venezuelan oil reboot not expected to spur windfall in Texas


With former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro out of power, President Trump said he wants to reboot the oil industry in Venezuela. 

That idea has raised questions about whether it could cause a price spike at the gas pump and a downturn in the Texas oil patch region. 

Advertisement

Now, a spike at the pump and a production slump in the Texas oil patch may not happen this year, but with oil prices down, a budget crunch for state lawmakers may be waiting when they return to Austin in 2027.

What they’re saying:

Advertisement

The situation in Venezuela is creating a lot of political uncertainty, but a Texas energy expert said he is not expecting that uncertainty to cause an oil patch crash or a gas pump pike in 2026.

Prices at the pump are low and despite some recent big swings, up and down, analysts say 2026 could see the lowest prices since the pandemic. That prediction has people like Dale Owens cautiously optimistic.

“Things change so drastically nowadays. I mean, look what’s happening with the government, so anything can affect the price. But right now I’m really happy that it’s stable,” said Owens.

Advertisement

There are big reasons for that local gas price stabilization, and it predates the leadership change in Venezuela, according to Ed Hirs, an Energy Fellow at the University of Houston.

“The first is that the president has asked MBS (Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman) and OPEC nations to continue pumping a pace. Number one. Number two, this helps hamstring the Russian economy and its war effort. And that’s also one of the goals of not only the European Union, but of the Trump administration. And number three, we’ve got the midterm elections coming up,” said Hirs.

Advertisement

The price of a barrel of oil is expected to increase slightly because of the uncertainty regarding Venezuela. Texas crude oil production, according to an update released Monday, was stable in December, but state data also showed drilling permits for 2025 were at 369 and that’s down from 459 in 2024.

“When President Trump took office, oil was about $80 a barrel, today it’s under $60 a barrel. We are the high-cost producers in the global commodity oil market, and the cost of drilling these wells has gone up by between 5% and 12%, primarily because of Trump’s steel tariffs. Not only does the imported steel now cost a lot more, but domestic producers raise their So the producers in West Texas and across the Permian Basin are getting squeezed by much lower revenues, $20 a barrel less and much higher cost. It’s not a good capital investment for Wall Street,” said Hirs.

Dig deeper:

Advertisement

The oil industry remains a big part of the Texas economy and the state budget. State lawmakers will return to Austin in 2027 to crunch numbers for a new two-year budget.

“I think they need to be looking at the budget. So the state comptroller needs to be running the numbers now based on lower oil revenues, not only for state lands, for example, for the universities, but for the state tax receipts. And that applies to the counties and cities that rely on these revenues to keep their budgets balanced. It’s going to be lower for longer,” said Hirs. 

Advertisement

There are also doubts about whether the Texas refineries will get a financial windfall if the Trump Administration is able to reboot the oil industry in Venezuela. There are about six refineries in Texas and Louisiana that can process the heavy crude that is located in Venezuela.

“Well, it might help keep them open. But Lyondell just closed down a 100-plus-year-old heavy crude refinery on the Houston Ship Channel because it just doesn’t make any sense to reinvest in it. And it was going to require $750, $800 million of new capital investment just to keep the plant operating at par,” said Hirs.

What’s next:

Advertisement

Stocks for several oil companies did increase on Monday. Chevron, at one point, had a 10% stock price surge, mainly because Chevron is the only U.S. company operating in Venezuela. Other energy-related companies also saw an increase, like Exxon, as well as industry suppliers like Baker-Hughes and Halliburton. 

The action on Wall Street came after President Trump said he wants energy producers to pay for the oil production rebuild. Hirs described the administration’s plans as being “naive.”

Advertisement

Past attempts to rebuild another country’s oil infrastructure seem to back up the doubts raised by Hirs. In 1989, after the Soviet Union collapsed, companies like Exxon went in to rebuild — only to get kicked out later by the Russians. Hirs also noted the rebuilding effort in Iraq, started by President George W. Bush, hasn’t returned production there to pre-war levels. And it’s the same story for Libya, which was done under President Obama.

The Source: Information from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin’s Rudy Koski and previous coverage

AustinTexas PoliticsDonald J. Trump
Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending