UP TO $1000
San Diego County Crime Stoppers and investigators from the San Diego Police Department’s Homicide Unit are asking for the public’s help in identifying and locating the suspect(s) responsible for the murder of 29 year-old Arminda Grangela Rodrigues da Silva Ribeiro.
On June 13, 1973, at approximately 11:20 a.m., fishermen found the body of an unidentified female in the San Diego Bay between Laurel Street and the US Coast Guard Station. The woman’s body had been dismembered and placed into an orange suitcase and several plastic bags. For decades following her discovery, the female remained unidentified, but local investigators continued to devote efforts to solving the case. In 2020, the remains were exhumed by the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office to attempt to identify the victim through DNA.
With financial assistance from NaMus (National Missing and Unidentified Persons System), a private, forensic biotechnology company, Othram, was able to develop a DNA profile from the exhumed remains. Ultimately, this profile led to the identification of the victim as Arminda Grangela Rodrigues da Silva Ribeiro. Ribeiro would have been 29 years old at the time of her death.
Investigators have learned Ribeiro was born in Portugal. Her family emigrated to the Ironbound neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey, which is home to a large Portuguese community. Ribeiro was married and had two children. She still has family in the Newark, New Jersey, area.
Investigators also learned that she worked at a trailer fabrication company in Newark at the time of her disappearance. It is unknown what connection Ribeiro may have had to San Diego. Police are seeking assistance in identifying the company she worked for in Newark, any potential connections she had to San Diego, or any information that might help investigators determine what happened to Ribeiro.
Anyone with information on this murder is asked to call the San Diego Police Department’s Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293 or the Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line at (888) 580-8477. Visit the Crime Stoppers website at www.sdcrimestoppers.org for more information on how to send anonymous web and mobile app tips.
Media inquiries about this case should be directed to Lt. Jud Campbell at (619) 533-5752 or email at campbellj@pd.sandiego.gov.
Media inquiries about Crime Stoppers can be directed to Officer Mark Herring at (619) 531- 1500 or email at msherring@pd.sandiego.gov or Deputy Marcial Lopez at (619) 531-1547 or email at marcial.lopez@sdsheriff.org.
