1989 Arizona murder victim, daughters identified
The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office identified Marina Ramos as the woman found stabbed to death in the Arizona desert on Dec. 12, 1989, and used DNA in August 2025 to locate her two infant daughters, who were abandoned in a park restroom in Oxnard, California, two days after the killing. Investigators tied Ramos to an alias via an FBI fingerprint match after a 2022 NamUs resubmission, found the sisters were fostered and later adopted in Ventura County, and are now seeking public tips as the homicide suspects remain unknown.
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Mystery of babies abandoned at park in 1989 solved after mother ID'd as woman found murdered in desert
New information:
- Victim identified as Marina Ramos of Bakersfield; body found Dec. 12, 1989 in Mohave County, AZ, about 50 miles south of Las Vegas
- FBI matched resubmitted 2022 fingerprints to an alias ('Maria Ortiz') from a 1989 Bakersfield shoplifting arrest
- DNA led investigators in August 2025 to Ramos’ two daughters, who were found in December 1989 abandoned in an Oxnard, CA park restroom
- Witness reported a Hispanic woman and two Hispanic men with the children at the park, leaving in a black mini pickup
- Girls entered foster care and were later adopted together in Ventura County; suspects in Ramos’ killing are still sought