Remains found in 1983 ID'd as missing mom, now cops want to know how she died

Saleen Martin, USA TODAY
·2 min read
Maritza Glean Grimmett, a native of Panama, who moved to the U.S. in late 1978.
Maritza Glean Grimmett, a native of Panama, who moved to the U.S. in late 1978.

A woman whose remains were found 41 years ago in Southern California has finally been identified, authorities announced Friday.

The woman has been identified as Maritza Glean Grimmett, a woman from Panama who married a U.S. Marine during the summer of 1978 and moved to the U.S. She was last heard from in July 1979 after telling her sister she was getting a divorce and going to California.

Children in Orange County were playing in a culvert in April of 1983 when they found the remains, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.

Investigators excavated and found 70% of the woman’s remains.

Once an anthropology examination was done, investigators learned the woman was Black or biracial, between 18 and 24 years old, had a slight build, stood between 5-foot-3 and 5-foot-6. She also had a gold tooth.

The remains were found in what is now known as the city of Lake Forest, so investigators called her Lake Forest Jane Doe.

The quest to identify Lake Forest Jane Doe

Investigators tried to identify the woman over the years but to no avail. In 2011, they sent a DNA sample off to Othram Laboratories and came up with a genetic profile.

Cold case investigators eventually began working with the FBI’s Regional Genealogy Team to conduct investigative genetic genealogy and found a direct family line for the woman.

Multiple forensic renderings of the woman were released as well, authorities said. In late 2023, investigators contacted a distant genetic relative of the victim, who suggested they post the renderings of the woman to a Facebook group for Jane Does and missing women found between the 1970s and 1980s.

A 2019 rendering of a woman whose remains were found in April 1983 in Orange County, California. She was later identified as Maritza Glean Grimmett.
A 2019 rendering of a woman whose remains were found in April 1983 in Orange County, California. She was later identified as Maritza Glean Grimmett.
A 2022 rendering of a woman whose remains were found in April 1983 in Orange County, California. The remains were later identified as those of Maritza Glean Grimmett.
A 2022 rendering of a woman whose remains were found in April 1983 in Orange County, California. The remains were later identified as those of Maritza Glean Grimmett.

One month after posting about the victim, a woman contacted investigators and said she could be her missing mother, Grimmett.

Grimmett had previously married a U.S. marine and had a daughter. The family lived in Columbus, Ohio and Millington, Tennessee in 1978 through mid-1979.

The woman told her family she was divorcing and moving to California. At just 20 years old, she was never heard from again.

Her relatives submitted DNA samples and the victim was positively identified as Maritza Glean Grimmett.

Authorities said the National Missing and Unidentified Person System paid for the DNA extraction and testing that allowed them to identify her.

Investigators are still investigating her killing. They ask that anyone with information contact Investigator Bob Taft at (714) 647-7045 or coldcase@ocsheriff.gov.

Anonymous tips can be submitted to OC Crime Stoppers at (855) 847-6227 or www.occrimestoppers.org.

Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Follow her on Twitter at @SaleenMartin or email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lake Forest Jane Doe ID'd as missing mom; death investigation begins

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