Anglers found suitcase full of body parts 50 years ago, cops say. Now remains identified
Fishermen found a woman’s dismembered remains in an orange suitcase in a California bay 50 years ago, police said.
DNA testing helped identify her as Arminda Grangeia Rodrigues da Silva Ribeiro, the San Diego Police Department said in a news release. It’s not clear what date these remains were identified.
Ribeiro’s remains were found by anglers June 13, 1973, in the San Diego Bay, police said. Her manner of death was ruled a homicide, according to an autopsy, but she was never identified.
The San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office exhumed her body in 2020 and worked to identify her remains, according to DNASolves.com.
Forensic genetic genealogy helps ID remains
A part of her skeletal remains were sent to Othram, a lab in The Woodlands, Texas, that specializes in forensic genetic genealogy.
Othram used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing to create a DNA profile that helped police identify the remains as Ribeiro.
Ribeiro was born in Portugal in 1943 where she was married and had two children, police said. She then moved with her family to Newark, New Jersey, and worked at a trailer fabrication company in 1973.
Authorities are asking the public if they have any information about how Ribeiro was connected to San Diego and if anyone can name the company she worked at in New Jersey.
This story was originally published October 31, 2023 at 3:50 PM with the headline "Anglers found suitcase full of body parts 50 years ago, cops say. Now remains identified."
