Closing Time at the Yogurt Shop

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It was almost midnight—December 6th, 1991—when an Austin patrol officer noticed smoke rising over a strip mall in Austin, TX. It was later discovered to be the "I Can't Believe It's Yogurt!" shop and upon entering...not gonna lie, one of the most haunting crime scenes I've ever read about.

Four teenage girls—Eliza Thomas, Jennifer Harbison, her younger sister Sarah, and Sarah’s best friend, Amy Ayers—were found in a condition that makes your stomach turn. Two of them were working that night. The other two were just there for a sleepover. It was supposed to be a normal Friday.

We walk through the case from the start of the fire to the long, long, messy road that followed.

Let me be clear: this case was botched. Public pressure was making the police department look bad so they forced confessions out of teenage boys with zero forensic ties to the scene. Everything that could go wrong, did. And while those wrongful convictions unraveled years later, the real suspect (or suspects) were still walking around free - and committing more crimes.

Decades later, new DNA tech finally pointed to a name: Robert Eugene Brashers. A serial predator. Dead by his own hand since 1999. But the evidence? His DNA was on one of the victims. His gun matched a shell casing at the scene.

So why the hell did it take 34 years to get there?

We’re going to unpack all of it—the police missteps, the trial disasters, the science that saved the truth, and the family members who never stopped fighting.

This case isn't closed. And there's still one huge question no one can answer: Was Brashers working alone?

If you care about getting it right—even if it takes decades—subscribe. This is the kind of story that sticks with you.

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LINKS & SOURCES:

https://www.austintexas.gov/news/significant-breakthrough-made-1991-i-cant-believe-its-yogurt-murders

https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxtons-cold-case-and-missing-persons-unit-helps-make-critical-development-1991

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-yogurt-shop-murders-austin-texas-families-investigators-haunted-by-unsolved-case/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/yogurt-shop-murder-case-dna-sample-austin-texas/

https://www.kut.org/crime-justice/2025-09-29/austin-tx-yogurt-shop-murders-1991-investigation-police-robert-eugene-brashers

https://abc7chicago.com/post/dna-evidence-links-late-robert-eugene-brashers-1991-killings-4-girls-austin-texas-yogurt-shop/17889732/

https://www.axios.com/local/austin/2025/09/29/austin-yogurt-shop-homicides-dna-cold-case

https://people.com/texas-yogurt-shop-murders-hbo-docuseries-11772431

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Austin_yogurt_shop_murders

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Eugene_Brashers