The desert murder mystery that haunted investigators for more than three decades has finally seen a breakthrough. Authorities have identified a woman found stabbed to death in Arizona in 1989 and located her two infant daughters, who vanished at the time of her killing.
The victim, Marina Ramos of Bakersfield, California, was discovered on Dec. 12, 1989, naked and stabbed multiple times in Mohave County, Arizona, just 50 miles south of Las Vegas. For years, her identity remained unknown. In 2022, the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office resubmitted fingerprints, leading the FBI to match them to an alias Ramos once used after a shoplifting arrest. Family members then confirmed Ramos had disappeared in 1989 along with her two baby girls — Elizabeth, 14 months, and Jasmin, 2 months.
The trail turned tragic but miraculous. In August, investigators confirmed through DNA that the daughters had been abandoned in a California park restroom just two days after Ramos’ murder. A passerby discovered them crying on the wet floor, with no adult nearby. Authorities placed them in foster care before they were adopted by a Ventura County family who raised them together.
Sheriff’s officials celebrated the discovery but reminded the public that justice is unfinished. “While we are excited to announce that one part of this 36-year-old mystery has been solved, the search for the suspects involved in the homicide of Marina Ramos continues,” the office stated.
