Daughters of 1989 homicide victim found after 36 years in Arizona cold case

Authorities in Arizona have identified and located the two daughters of a homicide victim who was killed in 1989, resolving one part of a decades-long mystery.

The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office said on Monday that the victim, initially unidentified, was found stabbed to death on December 12, 1989, along Old Temple Bar Road south of Las Vegas.

The victim was later identified as 24-year-old Marina Ramos, who was using the alias Maria Ortiz at the time. Ramos had last been seen with her two daughters, 2-month-old Jasmin and 14-month-old Elizabeth.

According to investigators, the girls were abandoned in a park restroom in Oxnard, California, on December 14, 1989, two days after their mother’s body was discovered. A witness found them crying on the wet floor and notified police, who turned them over to Child Protective Services.

The sisters spent time in foster care before being adopted together by a family in Ventura County.

Detectives confirmed the women’s identities this year after a forensic genetic genealogist linked a DNA match to the Ramos family. In August, investigators contacted the women and confirmed their history matched details of the case. DNA testing verified them as Ramos’s daughters.

While the discovery solves one part of the 36-year-old case, the homicide investigation remains open. A witness reported seeing a woman and two men with the children in the park in 1989, driving a black mini pickup truck. The woman was described as Hispanic, wearing a long red skirt and white boots. Both men were described as Hispanic.

The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information to call 928-753-0753 ext. 4408.