LAS VEGAS () – Found abandoned and crying in a park restroom in 1989, two sisters now know the names they were given at birth by a mother they probably don’t remember.

A homicide investigation that went nowhere for 33 years took a giant step forward in February 2022 when forensic investigators were able to collect fingerprints in an effort to identify a woman who was found stabbed to death in the desert about 50 miles south of Las Vegas. That added to DNA evidence collected in 1989, helping to positively ID the victim as Marina Ramos.

Investigators continued to pursue leads after a relative revealed the dead woman had a 2-month-old daughter and a 14-month-old daughter when she disappeared.

The story of Ramos and her daughters — Jasmin and Elizabeth — is still unfolding, and the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office said last week that DNA evidence has confirmed the two women are indeed Ramos’ daughters.

Details of the case show that the two girls were found on a wet restroom floor in Oxnard, California, on Dec. 14, 1989. It was two days after their mother was found on Old Temple Bar Road off White Hills Road in Mohave County, roughly 400 miles away.

According to investigators, a witness walking in the area heard children crying in the women’s restroom, and he asked a woman to check the bathroom. She found the girls on the floor with no adult nearby. The children were taken to the police station and later placed in the custody of Child Protective Services.

After that, the girls were placed into foster care and stayed there for “a significant amount of time,” officials said. The girls were eventually adopted by a couple in Ventura County and raised together.

Nexstar’s has followed the case, posting stories about Marina Ramos’s identification in 2023 and a story containing “age-processed” images of the girls last month.

Updates on the case have come through the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Unit.

Investigators did not say how they were able to connect the two women to the case. It’s possible that they saw media reports about the effort to find the daughters.

The sheriff’s office is now continuing its efforts to find the person, or people, responsible for Ramos’ death.

“While we are excited to announce that one part of this 36-year-old mystery has been solved, the search for the suspects involved in the homicide of Marina Ramos continues,” reads a Facebook post shared by the sheriff’s office. “A witness in the area told officers that she had observed a woman and two men with the children at the park. They were observed driving a black mini pickup. The witness saw the woman carrying the smaller child in a yellow blanket and one of the males carrying the older child. The woman was described as a Hispanic female wearing a long red skirt and white boots. The two males were only described as Hispanic.”

Anyone with information on this incident is encouraged to call the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office at 928-753-0753 ext. 4408.