Missing California millionaire’s remains identified 45 years after her disappearance

U.S. newsMissing California millionaire’s remains identified 45 years after her disappearanceA 39-year-old carpet salesman described as the 80-year-old woman’s “companion” was convicted of her murder despite the body never being found. Listen to this article with a free profile00:0000:00A guard walks outside the California Institution for Men in Chino, Calif., in 2011. Ann Johansson / Corbis via Getty Images fileShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJuly 16, 2026, 11:06 AM EDT / Updated July 16, 2026, 11:43 AM EDTBy Doha MadaniA missing California millionaire’s remains have been identified 45 years after the 80-year-old woman disappeared without a trace. Subscribe to read this story ad-freeGet unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Thelma Jeanette Gaston went missing on June 28, 1981, and although a man was sent to prison for her murder, her body had never been found. That is, until the Riverside County Sheriff’s Coroner’s Bureau received a grant to re-examine long-standing cases with new forensic technology.A set of remains found the same year that Gaston went missing were re-examined using genetic genealogy, dental records and “advanced forensic DNA testing” with the help of a private laboratory.“DNA recovered from the remains was analyzed using investigative genetic genealogy, ultimately leading to the restoration of Ms. Gaston’s identity,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.The only clue left at Gaston’s home at the time of her disappearance was a note to say that the widow went looking for her cat, the Los Angeles Police Department said at the time. But police found subsequent letters that were purportedly written by Gaston that said she was off to enjoy “some fun in life” and left her estate to a 39-year-old carpet salesman named Lawrence Remsen, The Los Angeles Times reported in August 1981. It’s unclear how much Gaston was worth at the time. The Los Angeles Times reported her fortune as an estimated $20 million, while the Chicago Tribune repor...