Investigators in Arizona made an astonishing announcement in one of many state’s oldest chilly instances. Two sisters lacking since 1989 had been discovered alive in California after their mom was murdered within the desert greater than 30 years in the past. The surprising finish of the 36-year-old case reopened investigators’ efforts to search out the killer or killers of Marina Ramos.
Within the pre-dawn hours of December 12, 1989, a younger lady’s physique was found in Mohave County, Arizona. She had been stabbed a number of instances within the neck, left nude off Previous Temple Bar Street, about 50 miles south of Las Vegas. The girl was unidentified, and the case went chilly shortly. Nobody knew on the time the lady was 29-year-old Marina Ramos, from Bakersfield, California – nor that Ramos had disappeared along with her two younger daughters, Elizabeth, 14 months, and Jasmin, 2 months, till days later when a passerby heard crying coming from a public restroom at an area park. A girl who entered the restroom discovered two child ladies on the moist lavatory ground, with no grownup in sight. The infants ended up in protecting custody and finally adopted collectively by a pair in Ventura County, having first been positioned in foster care.
For years, Marina’s physique remained a Jane Doe, and her daughters had been listed as lacking. In 2019, the Mohave County Sheriff’s Workplace created a Particular Investigations Unit to look at unsolved instances. In 2022, detectives revisited the Jane Doe case and resubmitted the lady’s fingerprints (preserved on the time of her homicide), to NamUs, for FBI evaluation. The prints matched these of a girl arrested by Bakersfield police in 1989 and utilizing the alias “Maria Ortiz.” Digging deeper, detectives found that Ortiz was truly Marina Ramos. Jane Doe had a reputation, however her daughters had been nonetheless lacking.
Investigators made public appeals since 2023 utilizing press releases, social media campaigns, and tv protection to generate any potential leads. Ramos’s members of the family additionally submitted DNA samples for evaluation. Nonetheless, this summer season every little thing modified when investigators positioned a girl in California who was a robust DNA match to Ramos’s household. In a telephone name with detectives, the lady defined that she and her sister had been deserted within the restroom of a park lavatory as infants in December 1989. The girl’s sister corroborated the account and produced clippings from newspapers on the time. DNA testing later confirmed investigators’ hopes, and ladies identified of their adoptive household as Tina and Melissa, had been actually Elizabeth and Jasmin Ramos.
Whereas the invention of the sisters is a reduction for investigators, Ramos’s homicide remains to be unsolved. A witness in 1989 remembered seeing her within the Oxnard park along with her daughters, two Hispanic males, and a Hispanic lady. The group was noticed close to a compact black pickup truck. Detectives additionally launched a sketch of a person they solely know as “Fernando,” although nobody has ever been arrested.
The Mohave County Sheriff’s Workplace acknowledged: “Whereas we’re excited to announce that one a part of this 36-year-old thriller has been solved, the seek for the suspects concerned within the murder of Marina Ramos continues.” These with info can name 928-753-0753 ext. 4408.
