Authorities are searching for a man linked to a woman who died in Mojave County in 1989 and whose children remain missing.
According to the Mojave County Sheriff’s Office, DNA analysis has identified Marina Ramos, then 28, of Bakersfield, Calif., as the woman killed on Old Temple Bar Road off White Hills Road on December 12, 1989. identified. A naked woman, the victim of multiple stab wounds, appeared to have been killed where her body was recovered, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Since Ramos’ disappearance in August 1989, the agency has claimed that her two daughters, Elizabeth Lisa Ramos (14 months then, believed to be 34 now) and Jasmine Maria Ramos (2 months then, 33 now), have been arrested. ) is also missing.
Lori Miller, a sheriff’s office investigator who confirmed the situation of Ramos’ daughters contributed to the urgency of solving the case, told the Arizona Republic in an interview on Tuesday.
“The family wants to know what happened to those two girls,” Miller said. “The hope is that they were just raised by someone else and are still alive and thriving somewhere.”
Ramos was last known to be with a man named Fernando, and she and her daughters were seen driving with him in a black SUV to his home in Ontario, California. was given.
The agency released a sketch of the man on Tuesday.
Miller said the nature of Ramos and Fernando’s relationship was unclear, adding that the man may have been in his late 30s to mid-40s when he was seen with the victim.
Miller said it remains possible that Ramos was sexually assaulted before the murder, and investigators are looking at DNA evidence from someone other than her.
Detectives at the time were unable to identify the woman, but last December a DNA profile matched Ramos’ relatives, the sheriff’s office said. A search of the NamUs missing persons database found a match for Maria Ortiz of Bakersfield, the agency said.
Police linked investigators with someone who may know Ortiz, who said he didn’t know anyone by that name, but named Ramos as a cousin who had been missing since 1989.
Another family member of Ramos provided a DNA sample to sheriff’s investigators, which positively matched Ramos as the victim of a fatal stabbing in December, the agency said.
Fingerprints in the database are from shoplifting arrests, Miller said. Miller added that the sketch of the man known as Fernando was based on information from his relatives who cared for his daughters while Ramos was imprisoned.
According to a December 14, 1989 article in The Republic, Ramos’ then-unidentified body was the fourth murder victim found in Mojave County, joining two other victims found earlier this year. was a person A sheriff at the time said the discovery further strengthened the county’s reputation as a “garbage dump” for murder victims.
According to reports in the Republic at the time, Ramos’ body was discovered by four tourists by noon, and less than 24 hours after her death.
Anyone with information about this incident, or the identity of a possible individual involved, is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at extension 928-753-0753. 4408.
Contact Breaking News Reporter Jose R. Gonzalez jose.gonzalez@gannett.com or on twitter @jrgzztx.
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