A body found in a remote area near Modjeska Canyon was identified today as a 36-year-old Army veteran from Orange missing since May 2, and her roommate was arrested on suspicion of murder.
The body was found Thursday afternoon near Santiago Canyon and Jackson Ranch roads in an unincorporated area, said Lt. Dave Hill of the Orange Police Department. "After an autopsy earlier today, the body that was found yesterday was identified as that as Maribel Ramos.
"Her case has therefore been reclassified from a missing persons case to a homicide investigation."
At approximately 11:15 a.m. Friday, Ms. Ramos' former roommate , Kwang Chol Joy, also known as K.C. Joy, was contacted by investigators and voluntarily accompanied them to the police station. Detectives later arrested K.C. Joy for the murder of Maribel Ramos.
Joy, 54, was booked into the Orange County jail.
Ramos served two tours of duty in Iraq as a sergeant in the Army and spent another year in South Korea and was expected to graduate later this month from Cal State Fullerton with a criminal justice degree, her sister, Lucy Gonzalez, told City News Service.
The last time Gonzalez had contact with her sister was May 2, when she texted Ramos to ask her about a trip she had made to Chicago to participate in a panel discussion on veterans transitioning to civilian life and higher education.
"She didn't respond right away, but I know she went to work and they sent her home because she looked really tired," Gonzalez said of her sister, who worked at the veterans center at Cal State Fullerton.
Ramos went home and got some rest and sent a text message back to her sister at 5:48 p.m., saying she had gotten some sleep and promising to call later, Gonzalez said.
Ramos lived with a roommate, who was getting ready to move out because he got a job elsewhere, and Ramos also was dating someone she met a couple of months ago, Gonzalez said: "It looked promising. They liked each other."
There had been no record of Ramos using her credit card since she disappeared and it was unlike her to miss some of the commitments she had since her disappearance, Gonzalez said.
Hill said no further information would be released "in order to preserve the integrity of the investigation."
—City News Service
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