Missing sisters Elizabeth and Jasmin Ramos were found alive 36 years after their mother’s murder. / Mohave County Sheriff’s Office
MOHAVE COUNTY, Ariz. – An unsolved homicide from 1989 has been partially solved, leading to the discovery of two sisters who were abandoned as infants shortly after their mother’s murder.
The cold case was re-opened and through DNA and genealogical research, investigators were able to identify the victim, Marina Ramos, and reunite her two daughters with their family after 36 years.
Timeline:
- December 12, 1989: The body of a woman is found in the desert in Mohave County, Arizona. She had been stabbed multiple times.
- December 14, 1989: Two young girls, a 2-month-old and a 14-month-old, are found abandoned in a park restroom in Oxnard, California, by a witness. The girls are placed into foster care and are later adopted together.
- February 2022: A special investigations unit submits the victim’s fingerprints to a national missing persons system. They are identified as Marina Ramos, who had been using the alias Maria Ortiz.
- 2023: Investigators begin putting out press releases and social media posts to locate Ramos’s two missing daughters.
- August 27, 2025: DNA analysis reveals a high probability that a woman is one of the missing girls. She tells investigators that she and her sister were abandoned in a park in December 1989.
- September 22, 2025: DNA samples from the two women confirm they are the missing daughters of Marina Ramos. They are identified as Elizabeth and Jasmin Ramos.
Marina Ramos, was discovered dead in 1989 in an Arizona desert. At the time, she was unidentified, referred to as a Jane Doe victim, though in 2022 authorities were able to uncover her identity through fingerprinting technology. / Mohave County Sheri
What we know:
Marina Ramos of Bakersfield was found murdered 36 years ago in an Arizona desert.
All attempts to identify her proved unsuccessful at the time, but investigators had collected a DNA profile from the scene.
Her identity was finally confirmed in 2022 using fingerprints from a 1989 shoplifting arrest.
Her two young daughters, Elizabeth and Jasmin Ramos, who were last seen with her, were found to have been abandoned in a park just two days after their mother’s body was discovered.
They were raised together in a loving home after being adopted by a family in Ventura County.
A witness at the park saw Ramos with two men and her children, describing the men as Hispanic and the woman as a Hispanic female with a long red skirt and white boots, all of whom were driving a black mini pickup.
What’s next:
While part of the mystery has been solved, the search for the suspects involved in the homicide of Marina Ramos is still ongoing.
The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office is seeking information from anyone who may have knowledge of the incident and can be contacted at 928-753-0753 ext. 4408.
The Source: This report is based on a press release from the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office, which provided official details on the 36-year-old cold case. The information, including the timeline and investigative steps, comes from detectives with the Special Investigations Unit, who used forensic evidence and witness accounts to piece together the events. The story is a summary of the facts as presented by the investigating law enforcement agency.
