Riverside County Identifies Thelma Gaston’s Remains 45 Years After 1981 Disappearance
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jul 17
Riverside County Identifies Thelma Gaston’s Remains 45 Years After 1981 Disappearance
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jul 17
Summary
Riverside County sheriff’s officials said they have positively identified Thelma Jeanette Gaston, an 80-year-old Los Angeles widow who vanished in June 1981, ending a decades-long mystery over her fate.
DNA testing, genetic genealogy and dental records produced the match in May, linking Gaston to remains found in a shallow grave in the Santa Rosa Mountains near Palm Springs on Nov. 28, 1981.
Gaston disappeared after a note on her front door said she had gone to tend to a sick cat; authorities later said the note was planted to cover up her killing.
Lawrence Remsen, Gaston’s much younger companion, was convicted in 1983 of her murder and 12 other counts, but her body had remained unidentified until now.
Gaston was reported to be worth $20 million at her death, and the identification closes one of Southern California’s long-unsolved missing-person cases.