MOHAVE COUNTY, AZ — The daughters of murder victim Marina Ramos have been found alive decades after the death of their mom. The women, who were unknowingly missing as babies back in 1989, told ABC15 they had no idea their mom was killed in Mohave County, Arizona.
ABC15 has closely followed this case for years, first sitting down with Mohave County Sheriff's Office investigator Lori Miller in 2023.
It was then that Miller was finally able to identify Marina's body. The 28-year-old had been buried as a "Jane Doe" after being stabbed and left in the desert back in mid-December 1989. It wasn't until Miller made contact with her family that the investigator discovered Marina's daughters had also been missing ever since.
Miller always said she believed the two girls, Elizabeth and Jasmin Ramos, were alive. The sisters were both babies — Jasmin being just months old — when they went missing.
"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," said Miller.
FINDING THE GIRLS
MCSO worked with Marina's family, discovering she had an older, third daughter who had grown up with her grandparents. MCSO was able to get a DNA sample and use it to search multiple genetic genealogy databases. Within the last month, Miller received word that a possible close match had been found.
Miller worked first with forensic genetic genealogists and then started the process of tracking down the woman who supplied the sample. The 36-year-old was ultimately identified as Jasmin Ramos.
MCSO was then able to connect with her sister, later identified as Elizabeth Ramos, to do further testing.
Through police reports and past news coverage, Miller traced the girls back to a southern California park where they were left just days after Marina's death.
"They had been found in the park on Dec. 14, 1989, in Oxnard, and we found Marina on December 12 in Mohave County," said Miller.
The sisters were ultimately adopted together, but Jasmin told ABC15 she had always wondered about her biological family.
UNKNOWINGLY MISSING
ABC15 was able to speak with Marina's daughters after they learned the news. They both gave us permission to share their adopted names, Melissa (Elizabeth) and Tina (Jasmin).
The two sisters are still processing the news they learned just in the last few weeks. Each has their own complex emotions as they are provided information about their past, but it was Tina who uploaded her DNA, helping lead Miller to the sisters.
"This is what I've been searching for and wanting for a very, very long time, and to figure out where I came from and who my family was," said Tina.
Tina now lives in Oregon, and Melissa recently relocated from California to Arizona. The pair were adopted together, growing up in Ventura County, California, but didn't learn about their adoption until their teenage years.
With a possible DNA match, Miller first reached the sisters by phone.
"As soon as she said she was a homicide investigator, I had this gut feeling she knew something about my parents," said Melissa. "Whether it was my mom or dad, she knew something. And I don't know, I just ran out of the room and didn't even know how to process what was being said."
The pair both later researched stories about their mom, including ABC15's Arizona Crime Uncovered episode on Marina's case.
"I instantly stopped the recording, and texted Lori, and I was like, that's my sister in that video," said Tina.
Tina is excited to learn about her birth family, but was emotional talking about Marina.
"I was sad to know that my mom is gone, and I will never be able to see her," said Tina, as tears welled up in her eyes. "Sorry. It still hits me a little bit because she was taken from me, you know, and, like, that's not right. But at the same time, I was happy to know that she's not suffering. She's not in a bad situation. I was happy to know that all those, like, abandonment issues that I dealt with when I was a kid was, like, automatically released for me."
Melissa hopes this will mark a new chapter for her sister, but she has many questions and complex emotions.
"I want everyone to know that I'm okay," said Melissa. "I'm here. I have lived a beautiful life. I have a wonderful husband."
The sisters are taking this process day by day. They both have their own children and want to meet their biological family in person.
"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," said Tina.
"They're going to see their sister, and they're going to be really emotional about it," said Melissa. "They're going to have feelings towards us that I don't necessarily know we have yet, you know, but just hoping for all good things."
Tina is hopeful she can speak with Marina's sister over the phone soon. In the last few days, she told ABC15 she had talked with other cousins.
Melissa wants to make that first connection in person. She hopes that since they've been found, all the people who worked to locate them can now help someone else.
"May the search continue for the next missing person, and hopefully they find some more success stories," said Melissa.
Arizona Crime Uncovered is an ABC15 series dedicated to raising awareness for victims still waiting for justice and providing an in-depth look at ongoing cases.
Each episode breaks down the timeline of a case, its current status, and any assistance needed from the community. Learn more here.
SEARCH FOR MARINA'S KILLER
Even though Miller has found the two girls, the search for answers in Marina's death is not over.
Back in 1989, people reported that they saw a woman and two men at Colonia Park in Oxnard, California, with Elizabeth and Jasmin. The city is around 400 miles away from where Marina was found and sits between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles.
"They actually had a witness come forward and say she saw a female — Hispanic, about five feet tall — and two male Hispanics get out of a black mini pickup somewhere in the neighborhood alongside the park, and saw them in the park," said Miller. "She saw that the youngest was wrapped in a yellow blanket, and she lost track of them."
The two girls were ultimately found in the bathroom at the park.
The witness reportedly said the woman she saw was wearing a long red skirt and white boots.
Miller strongly believes the three people seen with Elizabeth and Jasmin are suspects who were "indirectly or directly" involved in Marina's death.
Miller said the DPS crime lab, the FBI Phoenix office, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children all helped make this discovery possible.
