Victim of 1983 murder in Orange County identified as Panamanian woman
A woman who was found dead in Orange County more than 41 years ago has finally been identified.
According to a press release from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, children playing in a storm drain near Canada and Old Trabuco roads in what is now Lake Forest found a human skull in April 1983.
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An excavation was performed and approximately 70% of a female’s human remains were recovered, OCSD said.
“An anthropology examination showed the victim was a Black or mixed-race female [who was] 18 to 24 years old [with] a slight build and a distinctive gold tooth,” the sheriff’s department said.
In 2022, investigators submitted a DNA sample of the yet-to-be-identified murder victim to a laboratory in cooperation with the National Missing and Unidentified Person System, and a genetic profile was successfully obtained.
Upon obtaining the genetic profile, OCSD’s Cold Case investigators began conducting genetic genealogy in partnership with the FBI, but a direct family line was still unable to be ascertained, even with multiple forensic renderings being issued over the years.
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In late 2023, investigators contacted a distant relative of the victim, who suggested that the renderings be posted to a Facebook group for unidentified murder victims and missing women from the 1970s and 1980s.
About a month after the post was published, a woman came forward and told authorities that the Lake Forest Jane Doe could be her missing mother; she and her relatives submitted DNA samples which turned up a positive match for Maritza Glean Grimmett, a native of Panama.
Grimmett married a U.S. Marine in the summer of 1978 and gave birth to a daughter shortly after, OCSD stated. By the end of 1978, the family had relocated to the United States, settling in Columbus, Ohio and Millington, Tennessee through mid-1979.
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In July 1979, Grimmett, then 20, and her husband began divorce proceedings; she then told her sister she was going to California.
Her family never heard from her again.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department is actively investigating Maritza’s homicide, as the killer has not been identified. Anyone with information regarding her death is asked to contact Investigator Bob Taft by calling 714-647-7045. Information can also be submitted to coldcase@ocsheriff.gov
To submit an anonymous tip, call O.C. Crime Stoppers (1-855-847-6227) or visit www.occrimestoppers.org
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