Decades-Old Mystery: Familyโฃ Found for Woman murdered in Arizona Desert โin 1989
MOHAVE COUNTY, Ariz. – A decades-long questโ forโข answers inโฃ the 1989 murder of a young woman found โnear Las Vegas has taken a significant turn.Theโ Mohave County Sheriff’s โฃOffice announced today they have located biological relativesโข of Marina Ramos, the victim whose identity remained โa mystery for โyears.
The โขcase, โคshrouded in โขuncertainty as Ramos’ body wasโ discoveredโ on โDecember 12, 1989, near old Tempe Bar Roadโ andโข White Hills Road, approximately 50 miles south of โฃLas Vegas, โขhas seen a breakthrough thanks to advancements โขin forensic genealogy. โramos โhad been brutally stabbed multiple times โand left in aโ state of โฃundress in the desert, investigators stated.
For years, authorities were unable toโ identify theโค victim. The case โremained โcold until 2022,โข when a fingerprint โmatch linked the remains to a woman who had previously been identified as โ”maria โOrtiz” during a 1989 shoplifting arrest in bakersfield, California.
Further โexamination revealedโ “Ortiz” was an alias used by Marina Ramos. Crucially, investigators learned โramos had left behind twoโข youngโ daughters – โa two-month-old and โaโข 14-month-old – when she disappeared. This sparked a renewed effortโฃ to locate the children.
“Investigative follow up revealed that Ortiz hadโฃ been arrestedโฆA records checkโฆshowed that Ortizโข had listed โขa residential address in Bakersfield alongโฃ with the [names] โขof twoโ friends,” theโ Sheriff’s Office stated. One of those friends was eventuallyโ located in Tennessee.While she didn’t recognize โคtheโข nameโข “Maria Ortiz,” she โimmediately connected it to her missing cousin, Marinaโ Ramos, whose physical description matched โคthat of the unidentified victim.
the breakthrough came on August 27,โ 2025, when investigators located a woman with a strong DNAโฃ match to known Ramos family members. Forensic genetic genealogy analysis confirmed a highโฃ probability โthat this woman โwas one of Ramos’ missing daughters.
The Sheriff’s Office has not yet released details regarding theโ current โlocationโฃ or identities of the relatives, citingโค the ongoing nature of the โinvestigation. Though, this discovery represents a monumental step forward in โคbringing โclosure โฃto a tragic case that has haunted the region for over three โdecades.
The investigation remains active, and authorities are hopeful that this new advancement will lead โto further clues and, ultimately,โค theโ identification ofโ the person โresponsible for Marinaโฃ Ramos’ murder.
Keywords: Marina Ramos, Mohave County Sheriff’s Office,โ cold case, murder,โข unidentified remains, forensic genealogy, missing persons, Arizona, Las โขVegas, Maria Ortiz.