A woman whose remains were found in a shallow grave in Riverside County, California, more than four decades ago has been identified as a multimillionaire real estate investor who vanished in 1981.The Riverside County Sheriff’s Coroner’s Bureau said advances in investigative genetic genealogy, along with dental records, confirmed the victim was Thelma Gaston, 80, whose disappearance sparked a high-profile Los Angeles murder investigation.The case began on Nov.28, 1981, when people searching for firewood near Sugar Loaf Mountain discovered skeletal remains protruding from a shallow grave.Riverside County sheriff's investigators recovered the remains the following day near Highway 74, but the body had decomposed so extensively that authorities were unable to determine who the victim was despite extensive investigative efforts.MYSTERY OF REMAINS FOUND INSIDE SLEEPING BAG IN OLYMPIC PARK SOLVED AFTER 26 YEARSMap showing the Sugar Loaf Mountain area in Riverside County, California, where unidentified human remains were discovered in 1981 before investigators identified the victim decades later through forensic DNA.
(Google Earth)For decades, the woman remained known only as an unidentified homicide victim.According to UPI archives, Gaston, an 80-year-old wealthy real estate investor whose estate was estimated to be worth roughly $20 million, disappeared on June 28, 1981.A note was found on the door of her home stating she had gone out to look for a missing cat, but she never returned.KRISTIN SMART SEARCH ENDS WITH NO REMAINS FOUND AS DETECTIVES ANALYZE EVIDENCEBarbed wire fencing surrounds the California Institution for Men in Chino, highlighting security measures at the state prison.
(Ann Johansson/Corbis via Getty Images)Prosecutors later accused Lawrence Remsen, then 39, of killing Gaston to gain control of her multimillion-dollar estate.Police described Remsen as Gaston’s "sometime companion."He pleaded not guilty to charges including murder, forgery, grand t...