Murder victim’s missing daughters found alive 36 years later

Two sisters have found out their real identities as the missing children of a woman murdered in a cold case from 1989.

Their mother was not identified when she was found naked and stabbed to death in Mohave County, Arizona, on December 12, 1989.

But her DNA was finally matched to Maria Ortiz in February 2022, a name used by Marina Ramos.

Marina was just 28 at the time of her death and had two infant daughters – two-month-old Jasmin and 14-month-old Elizabeth.

The children were abandoned in a park in Oxnard, California, around the time of Marina’s death.

Police found the pair on December 14, 1989, and they were handed over to Child Protective Services.

Adopted by a new family, the sisters were raised not knowing what happened to their mother.

They were also given new names – Elizabeth became ‘Melissa’ and Jasmin became ‘Tina’.

Once their mother was identified in 2022, police knew the girls were out there. They explored Marina’s family tree and found an older daughter who had been raised by her grandparents.

With more DNA from the family, Melissa and Tina were identified as Marina’s children in August this year through genetic databases.

Speaking to ABC 15 Arizona, Melissa said she ‘ran out of the room’ when she was told about her real identity and ‘didn’t even know how to process what was being said’.

She added: ‘I want everyone to know that I’m okay. I’m here. I have lived a beautiful life. I have a wonderful husband.’

The sisters saw age progression images created to predict what they may look like as adults. Tina said it was ‘crazy’ and that the pictures were ‘pretty spot-on’, while Melissa said she didn’t know what she was looking at.

Reflecting on the revelation, Tina said: ‘I was sad to know that my mom is gone, and I will never be able to see her.’

She added that the pain of her mother being ‘taken’ from her was mixed with relief at releasing the ‘abandonment issues’ she dealt with as a child.

‘It felt good to know that I did have family out there that cared for me and had been looking for me even though I didn’t know this,’ Tina said.

Ramos’s sister, Margarita Maldonado, said she cannot wait to see her long-lost nieces.

Mohave County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Lori Miller, who had pieced together Melissa and Tina’s past, said: ‘It’s hard to describe the feeling when you’ve worked so hard for so many years, and then you not only come to a conclusion, but it’s turning out to be a happy one.’

However, the search for Marina’s killer continues. There are at least three suspects including a man known only as ‘Fernando’ who Ramos was allegedly planning to start a new life with.

Witnesses at the time of her murder also report seeing two men at Colonia Park, in Oxnard, California, with Marina’ daughters before they were abandoned. Miller believes they may be ‘indirectly or directly’ involved.

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