In a recent development that offers a glimmer of resolution to a decades-old mystery, the Mohave County Sheriff's Office announced the discovery of two sisters linked to a 1989 Arizona homicide victim. Found stabbed and left in the desert south of Las Vegas, the case of Marina Ramos lingered unsolved, her identity unknown for decades. The break came following a fingerprint analysis that tied her to an alias used during a minor California theft, as detailed by FOX 10 Phoenix.
Having been previously unidentified, authorities could only match Ramos' prints in 2022 with the alias "Maria Ortiz." A witness found the victim's children, abandoned in a park restroom in Oxnard, two days following her death. Reaching out to the community, efforts years in the making culminated on August 27, 2025, as detectives confirmed a DNA connection to the Ramos family. "She was contacted by investigators and during the phone conversation, it was learned that she and her sister were abandoned in a park in Oxnard, California in December 1989," the sheriff's office revealed in a statement obtained by FOX 10 Phoenix.
The story of the sisters’ abandonment first emerged when they were left in a restroom, discovered by passersby, and later placed into foster care, leading to their adoption by a couple in Ventura County. The account, supported by newspaper clippings and photographs from the time, filled in missing pieces of the tragedy that had separated a mother from her children. According to a 12 News report, DNA tests were the conclusive evidence that the women were indeed the missing daughters, Elizabeth and Jasmin, of Ramos.
While the discovery reunites a family with its past, the Mohave County Sheriff's Office continues to seek the individual or individuals responsible for Ramos' murder. Preliminary investigations from reports at the time indicated a woman and two men were seen with the girls at the park before they were found alone, described as Hispanic, the woman notably in a long red skirt and white boots. Anyone with knowledge pertaining to the case is urged to reach the Mohave County Sheriff's Office, as they remain in search of closure for a case that has haunted the community and stolen the earliest years of these daughters' lives.
