LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office announced on Tuesday its search for information from the public on a cold-case homicide from 1989.
According to a new release from the Special Investigations Unit, any information regarding a female homicide victim located on the Old Temple Bar Road off of White Hills Road in Mohave County on Dec. 12, 1989.
The body was located approximately 50 miles south of Las Vegas, wearing no clothing but having multiple stab wounds. According to investigators, it appeared that the victim had been killed at the scene where she was located.
Any and all attempts to identify her or the suspects involved in her homicide proved unsuccessful at that time. However, detectives were able to obtain a DNA profile from the victim.
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In February 2022, our SIU team obtained the victim’s fingerprints from the investigative case file and submitted them to NamUs for examination by the FBI. The next day, SIU was notified that the prints were a match for Maria Ortiz out of Bakersfield, California.
SIU detectives were led to a possible associate of Maria Ortiz, who later revealed to investigators that they had no knowledge of anyone named Maria Ortiz, though they did indicate that they had a cousin, identified as Marina Ramos, who had been missing since 1989. Additionally, Marina’s two daughters, ages 2 months and 14 months at the time, had also been missing since that time.
SIU investigators contacted another family member of the victim, who agreed to give a DNA sample for familial comparison. In December 2022, SIU was notified that the victim and the relative matched DNA family lines, thus verifying her identity as Marina Ramos.
Marina Ramos was last seen in August 1989 in Bakersfield, California, with her daughters Elizabeth Lisa Ramos and Jasmin Maria Ramos. She was last known to be with a Hispanic male, known only as “Fernando." The four were seen driving away in his black SUV, headed for Ontario, California, where “Fernando” lived.
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Anyone with information regarding this incident, or the possible identities of those involved, is encouraged to contact the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office at 928-753-0753 ext. 4408.
