A woman whose remains were discovered in a shallow grave in Riverside County more than 40 years ago has been identified as a multimillionaire real estate investor who disappeared in 1981.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Coroner’s Bureau confirmed the victim was Thelma Gaston, 80, using advances in investigative genetic genealogy and dental records.
The remains were first found on November 28, 1981, by people gathering firewood near Sugar Loaf Mountain. Sheriff’s investigators recovered the body the next day near Highway 74, but decomposition prevented identification despite extensive efforts.
For decades, Gaston was known only as an unidentified homicide victim. She had vanished on June 28, 1981, after leaving a note saying she was searching for a missing cat.
Gaston’s estate was estimated at roughly $20 million. Prosecutors later accused Lawrence Remsen, then 39 and described as her sometime companion, of killing her to gain control of that fortune.
Remsen pleaded not guilty to murder, forgery, grand theft, and attempted grand theft. Authorities alleged business associates received forged letters naming him as the person to control Gaston’s assets.
Investigators determined Remsen had falsely represented her disappearance. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
While the homicide was resolved, the location of Gaston’s body remained unknown until recently. New funding through the Missing and Unidentified Human Remains Grant allowed the coroner’s bureau to revisit cold cases with modern forensics.
In November 2024, investigators exhumed the remains for testing. DNA was sent to a forensic laboratory in Texas, where scientists built a full profile using genome sequencing technology.
That work enabled genetic genealogy and dental comparisons to confirm Gaston’s identity in May 2026. The effort involved the coroner’s bureau, the county cold case team, and the laboratory.
Officials said the identification restores both her name and her story. California prison records show Remsen, now 83, remains incarcerated and was denied parole in July 2025.
His next parole suitability hearing is scheduled for July 2028. The case illustrates how genetic genealogy continues to resolve decades-old mysteries once considered unsolvable.
