Bones Found in 1981 Identified as Murdered Millionaire

Four decades after an 80-year-old Los Angeles millionaire vanished with a note about looking for her cat, authorities say they've finally matched her to a body found in a shallow grave in the mountains. Riverside County officials have identified the remains discovered in 1981 near Sugar Loaf Mountain as those of real estate investor Thelma Gaston, whose fortune was estimated at more than $20 million at the time she disappeared, five months before the remains were discovered, per KTLA. Gaston's romantic partner Lawrence Remsen, who was half her age at the time of the disappearance, was convicted of her murder in the 1980s despite the absence of a body.

Investigators uncovered forged documents granting Remsen power of attorney and an allegedly faked letter claiming Gaston had run off "to have some fun in life." Remsen eventually claimed he found Gaston dead and disposed of her body in the ocean, per SFGate. But a judge found the "incompetent scoundrel" had killed her "intentionally and with malice." Now 83, Remsen is serving a life sentence for second-degree murder, with a parole hearing set for 2028. The unidentified remains, long too degraded for a positive ID, were re-examined after new funding arrived in 2022. Officials say genetic genealogy and dental records helped solve the cold case.