For over three decades, two adopted sisters living in California had no idea where they came from or who their real family was.
They lived ordinary lives under the care of their adoptive parents, completely unaware that they were once abandoned as babies in a public bathroom.
This year, the sisters not only discovered their chilling past but also found out that their biological mother was found lifeless in spine-chilling circumstances in an Arizona desert.
Highlights
- Two adopted sisters living in California had no idea about their heartbreaking past for over three decades.
- Authorities discovered that their biological mother was the woman found lifeless in an Arizona desert without any clothes on in 1989.
- The mother and daughters had vanished in 1989, just months after she said she was moving to another city with a man named “Fernando” to start a new life.
For over three decades, two adopted sisters living in California had no idea about their heartbreaking past
Image credits: Mohave County Sheriff's Office
The mystery began when a 28-year-old woman’s body was found in the desert in Mohave County, Arizona, in 1989.
The corpse had multiple stab wounds and was discarded without any clothes.
At the time, authorities referred to her as a Jane Doe victim. She was buried without her identity being known.
Image credits: Mohave County Sheriff's Office
Years passed by with investigators finding no answers to who the woman was.
In 2022, the cold case saw a major breakthrough when authorities used fingerprinting technology and discovered that the woman was Marina Ramos.
Marina Ramos was found lifeless in an Arizona desert with multiple stab wounds and no clothes on
Image credits: Mohave County Sheriff's Office
Marina was living in Bakersfield, California, and had vanished with her two daughters, Elizabeth and Jasmin Ramos.
Prior to her disappearance, the mother was in jail for shoplifting while her cousin, Esther, was taking care of her two daughters.
After being released from jail, Marina picked up her daughters and said she was moving to Ontario, California, to start a new life with a man known as “Fernando.”
Image credits: Mohave County Sheriff's Office
Four months later, Marina became the Jane Doe victim whose body was discovered in the Arizona desert.
It took another 36 years for authorities to confirm that the body belonged to Marina. But there was still no information about her missing daughters or Fernando.
Investigators used DNA technology to find the two missing girls, last known to be with their mother before her violent passing.
Marina's two daughters were found crying on the bathroom floor of a park bathroom
Image credits: Mohave County Sheriff's Office
The search eventually led to them finding a match with two adopted sisters in California, now known as by their new names Tina and Melissa.
Authorities confirmed that the adopted sisters were Jasmin and Elizabeth Ramos, who were found crying on a bathroom floor when they were 14 months and 2 months old.
Image credits: Mohave County Sheriff's Office
On December 14, 1989, which was two days after their mother’s body was found, a witness heard crying coming out of a woman’s bathroom in an Oxnard park.
“[The] witness walking in the area heard children crying in the women’s restroom,” the Mohave County Sheriff's Office said in a September 22 statement.
The sisters were teenagers when they found out they were adopted and had no idea about their tragic past
Image credits: Mohave County Sheriff's Office
“He asked a woman to check the bathroom, and she found the girls lying on the wet floor with no adult nearby,” they added.
The little ones were placed in foster care and eventually adopted by a couple in Ventura County.
They “were raised together in a loving home” with their new names, the sheriff’s office said.
“I grew up with the name Tina, and just recently I found out that my real name is Jasmin Ramos,” the now 37-year-old said
Image credits: ABC15 Arizona
The sisters said they were teenagers when they were told they were adopted. However, they didn't know they were listed as missing persons elsewhere, and their mother suffered a tragic end.
“I grew up with the name Tina, and just recently I found out that my real name is Jasmin Ramos,” the now 37-year-old told ABC15 Arizona.
Image credits: ABC15 Arizona
“I was sad to know that my is [sic] mom was gone and I will never be able to see her,” she added. “It still hits me a little bit.”
The younger sister, Melissa, acknowledged how they lived a beautiful life with their adoptive family, but had been completely missing in the lives of their biological family.
“I would like to meet the family in person,” she said.
Before they were abandoned, the sisters were seen with a Hispanic woman and two Hispanic men
Image credits: Mohave County Sheriff's Office
While the mystery surrounding the sisters was solved, the investigation still isn’t over.
Authorities are working to find the suspects who brutally ended Marina’s life and left the babies on the park bathroom floor.
It is suspected that two Hispanic men and a Hispanic woman were connected to the abandonment of Elizabeth and Jasmin.
Image credits: Mohave County Sheriff's Office
One witness told investigators that they saw the group driving a black mini pickup. They saw the woman carrying the younger sister, and the older sister was in the hands of one of the males.
“The woman was described as a Hispanic female wearing a long red skirt and white boots. The two males were only described as Hispanic,” the sheriff’s office said.
Authorities are now working to find the suspect behind Marina's violent passing
Image credits: ABC15 Arizona
Mohave County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Lori Miller said she always believed she would find Elizabeth and Jasmin someday.
“I always believed they were alive,” she was quoted as saying.
“And to finally find them… It’s hard to describe the feeling. It’s a relief. It’s joy,” she added. “But there’s still a shadow over everything because their mother’s k***er is out there.”
“What a heavy burden they have, to mourn a woman they don’t know,” one commented online. “The oldest looks just like her momma”
