by Bakersfield, CA – Two California sisters who vanished as infants in 1989 have been found alive and well after 36 years, authorities in Arizona confirmed. But while the discovery brings long-awaited relief, investigators are now shifting their attention to solving the brutal murder of the girls’ mother, Marina Ramos, whose case remains unsolved.
Infants Abandoned in Park Bathroom
In December 1989, Jasmin Ramos, then 2 months old, and her 14-month-old sister, Elizabeth, disappeared shortly after their mother was killed. Days later, the infants were discovered abandoned inside a women’s restroom at a park in Oxnard, California.
“A witness walking in the area heard children crying in the women’s restroom,” the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) said. “He asked a woman to check the bathroom, and she found the girls lying on the wet floor with no adult nearby.”
At the time, authorities had not connected the abandoned children to Marina Ramos, who was found stabbed to death across the state line in Mohave County, Arizona.
Raised Under New Identities
The girls were later placed in foster care and adopted by a Ventura County couple who gave them new names. They grew up together in what investigators described as “a loving home,” unaware of their true identities or that they were listed as missing children.
It wasn’t until August 2025 that investigators confirmed Jasmin and Elizabeth’s identities through familial DNA testing, part of an effort to revive cold cases.
Breakthrough With Familial DNA
The case was reopened in 2019 by MCSO’s Special Investigations Unit. In 2022, investigators linked Marina Ramos to an alias she had used: Maria Ortiz, a woman arrested for shoplifting in California months before her death.
Fingerprints taken from Ramos’ body matched Ortiz’s arrest record. Further investigation uncovered that Ortiz was, in fact, Ramos — and that she had two missing daughters.
Detective Lori Miller, a former Los Angeles police investigator, spearheaded the renewed search. Using advanced DNA techniques, Miller and her team traced the family line and finally located Jasmin and Elizabeth, now living in California.
One sister reportedly confirmed she always knew she and her sibling had been abandoned, while the other had kept newspaper clippings from the time.
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Who Killed Marina Ramos?
While the safe recovery of the sisters is a victory for law enforcement, investigators emphasize that the murder of Marina Ramos remains unsolved.
Ramos was last seen in December 1989 with her two daughters and two unidentified men at the Oxnard park where the girls were abandoned. Witnesses also reported seeing the group in a compact black pickup truck.
Authorities believe those men may hold the key to solving the case.
“The search for the suspects involved in the homicide of Marina Ramos continues,” MCSO said in a statement.
Community Urged to Help
Investigators are appealing to the public for help, hoping the new attention on the case will lead to breakthroughs. They believe someone may remember details about Ramos’ last days, the men seen with her, or the black pickup truck.
“Even the smallest piece of information could be the missing puzzle piece,” MCSO officials said.
Anyone with tips is urged to contact the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office.
A Bittersweet Resolution
The discovery of Jasmin and Elizabeth closes one chapter of a decades-long mystery, but it also shines a spotlight on a violent crime that left a young mother dead and two children without answers.
For investigators, the reunion of the sisters after 36 years is both a triumph of modern forensic science and a reminder of how much work remains.
Do you think advances in DNA technology will help solve more decades-old cold cases like this one? Share your thoughts in the comments on ibwhsmag.com.
