45 years later, DNA breakthrough leads to arrest in Yolanda Herrera cold case

UNIVERSAL CITY, Texas — Nearly 45 years after a 23-year-old woman was found beaten to death in a Universal City greenbelt, investigators say advances in DNA testing and genetic genealogy have led to an arrest and confession.

Kelly Lee Brower, 62, was arrested in Cottonwood, Arizona, in connection with the 1981 killing of Yolanda Herrera. Universal City police said Brower confessed after investigators and Texas Rangers traveled to Arizona to interview him.

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Herrera was last seen around 2:30 a.m. April 11, 1981, after leaving Johnny’s Inn in Schertz. Investigators believe she was walking home to Universal City when she was killed.

Two days later, children walking to school found Herrera’s body in a field near East Aviation Drive, several feet from the roadway. Investigators said she had been beaten and sexually assaulted.

The case remained unsolved for decades, though police said it was continually reviewed. Evidence collected during Herrera’s autopsy included DNA from beneath her fingernails and another sample.

In 2021, investigators obtained a male DNA profile but found no matches in available databases, Universal City police said.

Genetic genealogy later identified the surname Brower, but investigators said there was too little remaining DNA to continue testing with the technology available at the time. Authorities sent the sample to Othram Laboratories in 2025 after learning of technology capable of testing the limited DNA evidence, police said.

The testing pointed investigators to Brower, who had lived in Universal City when Herrera was killed.

Investigators obtained Brower’s DNA in Arizona in October 2025 and said it matched the DNA preserved from Herrera’s autopsy. Police said they do not believe Brower and Herrera knew one another.

“It appeared that it happened to be like an opportunity,” Cpl. Caitlin Brown said. “She happened to be there walking home. He happened to be in a bar, saw her.”

Assistant Chief Steve Mihalski, who has worked the case since 2009, said investigators never stopped pursuing answers for Herrera’s family.

“It’s a rewarding feeling to know that we never gave up on Yolanda,” Mihalski said.

Brower remains in Arizona and is expected to be extradited to Bexar County with help from the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.