20-Year-Old Was Found Murdered in 1983; Her Husband and His New Wife Were Named Persons of Interest 42 Years Later

Two leads in the cold case murder of Maritza Glean Grimmett have recently been identified. 

Maritza was 20 years old when she was murdered in the early 1980s. For nearly 41 years, she was only referred to as Jane Doe until her remains were identified in March 2024. Then, on Thursday, Feb. 20, the two persons of interest were named as Maritza’s ex-husband, Howard Grimmett, and his current wife, Isabel “Terry” Cruz-Grimmett, according to an Orange County Sheriff’s Department Thursday press release.

Maritza’s remains were first discovered in April 1983 in what is now Lake Forest, Calif. As the years passed, investigators used forensic renderings with help from private and federal partners to try and identify the deceased. 

However, it wasn’t until November 2023 that the investigators established a distant relative. That relative suggested posting Maritza’s forensic rendering to a Facebook group that aims to identify who disappeared in the 1970s and 1980s.

The next month, investigators were contacted by a woman who believed the images may have been her missing mother. By March 2024, Maritza was positively identified as the deceased.

Maritza, a Panamanian native, married Howard, a U.S. Marine, in 1978 and they welcomed a daughter, Dawn Hamill. Later that year, they moved to the United States and resided in Columbus, Ohio, and then in Millington, Tenn. The next year, they began divorce proceedings. 

That same year, Howard married his now wife, Terry, and moved with her to California, where they were stationed at El Toro Marine base. Meanwhile, Maritza stayed in Tennessee. 

Before her death, Maritza told her sister that she was traveling to California, but then her family never heard from her again. As the case remains unsolved, investigators are looking for evidence on how and when Maritza arrived in California.

“The location where Maritza’s remains were found were approximately three miles from El Toro Marine base where Howard was stationed. The problem that we have is-we have no definitive ties of how Martiza came to California,” the lead investigator, Bob Taft, said, per ABC 7 News.

Taft added that Howard and Terry are cooperating with the investigation and were interviewed in September 2024. At the time, Howard denied having any involvement with Maritza’s homicide.

The case investigators are interested in speaking with former military service members who may have seen Maritza at the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station between late 1979 and April 1983.

Anyone with information is asked to email the cold case homicide team at (714) 647-7055 or [email protected]. Anonymous tips can be made to OC Crime Stoppers at (855) 847-6227 or at occrimestoppers.org.

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A representative for Orange County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for more information on Friday.