Victim identified in Southern California homicide case, 41 years after remains found – WSB-TV Channel 2

Lina Portman3 weeks ago

2 1 minute read

SANTA ANA, Calif. — (AP) — A victim whose skull was discovered by children in a Southern California town in 1983 has been identified 41 years after his remains were first discovered, authorities said.

The Orange County Sheriff's Department on Friday identified the victim as Maritza Glean Grimmett, a Panamanian native who moved to the United States in the late 1970s. Grimmett was 20 years old at the time of her disappearance, police said. authorities in a press release. The investigation involved DNA analysis using Grimmett's remains which helped investigators identify relatives.

After children discovered Grimmett's skull while playing in an area that is now part of Lake Forest, a city about 42 miles (69 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles, about 70 percent of his remains were exhumed of the ground. In the decades since, authorities have been unable to identify the victim.

In 2022, a DNA sample from Grimmett's remains was sent to Othram Laboratories, a Texas-based forensic group, the sheriff's department said. A missing persons program within the U.S. Department of Justice funded the DNA extraction and testing. Authorities then discovered “a direct family lineage” for Grimmett and contacted one of his distant relatives in 2023, they said.

The relative recommended that the findings of the forensic investigation be posted on a Facebook group focused on women who went missing in the 1970s and 1980s, the sheriff's department said. A month after the findings were released, a woman contacted investigators and said she believed she was the victim's missing mother.

The relatives then submitted DNA samples to authorities, who identified the victim. The investigation is ongoing.