Dateline: Mystery in Orange County - A detailed investigation overview of the Maribel Ramos murder, explored

Dateline features another chilling 2013 case, the murder mystery in Orange County, where 36-year-old Maribel Ramos was found dead in a shallow grave two weeks after she went missing.

At the time of her death, she was a student at Cal State Fullerton, pursuing criminal justice. She also had served in the army in two combat tours in Iraq.

The murderer turned out to be her roommate of two years, Kwang Chol "K.C." Joy. According to reports, he had feelings for Ramos.

When she told Joy to move out because he was unable to pay his rent, the dispute and unrequited feelings led to the crime.

Read on to know the complete investigation overview of the Maribel Ramos murder, as shown on Dateline.

Here is the complete investigation overview of the Maribel Ramos murder, as shown on Dateline

On April 21, 2013, Ramos called 911 after a dispute with her roommate. The prosecutors found a CCTV surveillance footage of May 2, 2013, when she was last seen dropping a rent check and telling her roommate, Joy, that he needed to either move out or pay rent.

It was after this time, on May 3, that she was reported missing when people realized she hadn't been part of some planned events. Post the event, Joy even went on TV claiming that he was worried about her disappearance. The investigation was opened, with officers extensively trying to trace Ramos' location and jotting down potential suspects.

The circumstantial evidence pointed towards Joy, and the prosecutors ended up looking up through his public library computer searches in real time. He had searched human body decomposition and zoomed in on a satellite map to a spot off Santiago Canyon/Jackson Ranch after reading about a family “awareness walk.” In the Dateline interview, the correspondent Josh Mankiewicz recalled,

“The way the suspect was caught was something I’ve never seen before or since.”

This confirmed the official's doubt, and weeks later, on May 16, they searched in this area and found remains of Ramos in Modjeska Canyon in a shallow grave.

Joy was arrested the next day and was sentenced to prison in 2014

Jurors saw photos of fresh scratches on Joy; prosecutors theorised barbed wire in the canyon caused them. Joy gave media interviews projecting concern, but investigators argued, offering shifting explanations.

The defence argued by floating some suicide or accident theories around Ramos' death, but the court relied on the circumstantial evidence and considered it sufficient to convict Joy. The cause of death hasn't been determined because of body decomposition.

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“I cared for Maribel more than anyone in here. She knows it; she told me so,” Joy said in court.

On May 17, Joy was arrested, and in 2014, he was convicted of second-degree murder charges and sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment.

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