In a chilling discovery, authorities have finally identified a woman whose remains were unearthed in a shallow grave in Riverside County, California, over 40 years ago. The victim, now confirmed to be a wealthy real estate investor, disappeared back in 1981 under mysterious circumstances.

According to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Coroner’s Bureau, recent breakthroughs in genetic genealogy and the examination of dental records have revealed the woman as Thelma Gaston, aged 80. Her sudden disappearance had previously triggered a fervent murder investigation in Los Angeles at the time.

The painstaking case dates back to November 28, 1981, when individuals foraging for firewood near Sugar Loaf Mountain stumbled upon skeletal remains partly emerging from a shallow burial site.

Riverside County sheriff’s investigators acted swiftly, retrieving the body the next day near Highway 74. However, the decomposition was so advanced that identifying the remains posed a significant challenge, despite extensive investigative pursuits.

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.

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 theft and attempted grand theft after authorities alleged business associates received forged letters naming him as the person who would control Gaston’s fortune.

According to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Coroner’s Bureau, the Los Angeles Police Department ultimately identified Remsen as the suspect after determining he had falsely represented Gaston’s disappearance.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office later successfully prosecuted the case, and Remsen was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.

While the homicide investigation had long been resolved, what happened to Gaston’s body remained a mystery.

That changed after the Riverside County Sheriff’s Coroner’s Bureau received funding through the Missing and Unidentified Human Remains Grant, giving investigators the opportunity to revisit long-unsolved unidentified remains cases with modern forensic technology.

Investigators revisited the case in November 2024 by exhuming the remains for additional forensic testing. DNA samples were later sent to Othram, a forensic laboratory in The Woodlands, Texas, where scientists developed a comprehensive DNA profile using the company’s Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing technology, allowing investigators to use forensic genetic genealogy and dental records to positively identify Gaston in May 2026.

The identification was made through a collaborative effort involving the Riverside Sheriff’s Coroner’s Bureau, the Riverside Cold Case Homicide Team and Othram.

“This identification ensures that Ms. Gaston has her name—and her story—returned to her,” the Riverside County Sheriff’s Coroner’s Bureau said in announcing the breakthrough.

California prison records show Remsen, now 83, is serving a life sentence at the California Institution for Men in Chino. He was denied parole in July 2025, and his next parole suitability hearing is scheduled for July 2028.

Othram said the case marks the 85th publicly announced California case in which its forensic DNA technology has helped identify an unknown individual.

The case underscores how advances in investigative genetic genealogy continue to solve decades-old mysteries once thought unsolvable, helping investigators identify victims who for years had no name.

News Media has reached out to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Coroner’s Bureau, Othram, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and the Los Angeles Police Department for additional information.

A significant number of college programs across California are under intensified review following the release of federal data. This information shows that many graduates from these programs are earning salaries lower than those of individuals with only a high school education. As a result, these schools could face the potential loss of federal student loan eligibility unless they can demonstrate improved graduate outcomes.

New federal regulations that became effective this month mandate that colleges, universities, and certificate programs must provide evidence that their graduates earn wages at least equivalent to the median earnings of high school diploma holders in their state.

In the state of California, this wage benchmark is set at approximately $18 per hour, translating to an annual income of about $36,000.

Research conducted by Michael Itzkowitz, the president of the HEA Group, revealed that nearly 90% of almost 3,000 higher education programs in California are meeting this wage standard.

However, around 300 programs fall short of this requirement, with a notable number in specific fields such as cosmetology, medical assisting, theater, and fine arts.

If these programs continue to fall short of the earnings benchmark, students could lose access to federal loans as early as July 1, 2028. Schools, however, still have at least two years to boost graduate earnings.

Many of the underperforming programs are run by for-profit colleges, institutions that have already been under the microscope for years over concerns of student outcomes and high tuition costs.

Public institutions also made the list, with theater and fine arts programs at eight California State University campuses and three University of California campuses coming under fire.

Over 30 California programs in fine arts, music, theater, film, and photography failed to pass the new earnings test.

By comparison, about 100 similar programs cleared the federal bar, such as UC Berkeley’s film program and fine arts programs at San Diego City College and the University of Southern California, where graduates reported earning over $70,000 four years after graduation.

Among the schools drawing attention is the California Institute of the Arts near Santa Clarita. Federal data shows graduates of its fine arts, film and photography programs earned just under $30,000 a year four years after completing their degrees.

School officials countered that the federal data fails to capture how artistic careers often take longer to flourish, or that some graduates deliberately choose creative paths over higher-paying corporate roles.

“It’s hard to imagine CalArts without an undergraduate film or arts program,” Dean Ranu Mukherjee told CalMatters. “It’s in our name.”

Other educators have also pushed back.

“It’s an overly broad benchmark,” Angelica Muro, chair of the visual arts and music department at Cal State Monterey Bay, wrote in an email to CalMatters, arguing the rule “undercuts the societal benefits of critical thinking and the immense sociocultural value held within the arts.”

The requirement stems from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was signed into law on July 4 last year and took effect this month.

Unless these struggling programs can prove their graduates earn at least $36,000 a year, students could start losing access to federal loans in 2028.

On what was supposed to be a routine journey for chemotherapy, a Texas grandmother with legal residency found herself confined in an ICE detention center, her family reports.

Amid escalating concerns for her safety, her daughter is urgently appealing for her release. She fears her mother might face serious health risks, or even death, without immediate medical intervention, as she shared with the Daily Mail.

A viral video captures the harrowing moment when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers detained the terminally ill Martha Ochoa, aged 56. This incident occurred around 8 a.m. at a gas station while she was en route to her medical appointment near El Paso, according to her daughter’s account to the Daily Mail.

‘She has held permanent residency status since the late 1980s,’ explained her daughter, Marilyn Morales, in a phone interview conducted Wednesday afternoon, emphasizing the surprising nature of the detention.

This incident unfolds against the backdrop of ICE’s recent policy changes, announced after the agency faced scrutiny following the shooting deaths of two men by its agents—one in Texas last week and another in Maine earlier this week. They have declared a halt to arrests during traffic stops, further complicating the context of Ochoa’s detention.

She added ICE had not given a reason why her mother was detained. 

The daughter admitted her mom had a charge for drug smuggling dismissed last year. 

‘It was dismissed back in 2021. She took care of everything. We paid everything as well. She went to all her court dates and it was dismissed,’ Morales said.

ICE did not respond to the Daily Mail’s request for comment despite multiple requests over 24 hours. 

In the footage, Ochoa can be seen speaking with masked agents in the Allsups gas station parking lot off Highway 54 near the Texas-New Mexico state border. 

Agents had been following Ochoa for some time in unmarked cars, her daughter recounted.

Scared, Ochoa pulled into the convenience store parking lot and went inside to ask for help, worried criminals were after her. 

As the mother of six and grandmother of four walked back outside, she was approached by agents wearing masks and vests that read, ‘Police ICE.’

‘She went with them willingly to avoid trouble, but she doesn’t understand what her rights are,’ the second eldest of six children explained. 

Ochoa was diagnosed with cancer three years ago, her daughter said. What started as breast cancer spread to her lungs and later to her bones. 

‘She’s terminal, so you can imagine why her chemo is so important. It’s the only thing that’s keeping her alive right now. They do it every two weeks,’ the pregnant Morales said.

She also explained that her mother’s doctors tried to intervene after she was detained, sending paperwork to the ICE office at Camp East Montana where the grandma is being held to advocate for her release. 

While it seemed that ICE was getting ready to set her free around noon, later in the afternoon, Morales said the agency had a change of heart. 

Morales claims ICE would not release her and did not say when it would. 

She remained at the detention center as of Thursday afternoon. 

‘This is the most inhumane answer that they told us: we have to keep her detained for our own safety, because we’re getting threats on social media as she gone viral,’ the daughter claimed.

Originally from Mexico, Ochoa has lived in West Texas since she was 19. 

Her late husband was a US veteran before his passing several years ago. 

Ochoa’s children are working to hire a lawyer and have already reached out to public officials who might be able to help. 

‘I’m just terrified that she hasn’t eaten. In her condition, she needs to be eating. She needs to be taken care of,’ her daughter said fighting back tears.