For nearly two decades, a smoldering trash bag containing human remains that was found dumped on a street in
Atlanta has remained a mystery.
The remains were partial, as the hands, feet, and head were missing — leaving investigators with more questions than answers — and the case quickly went cold.
A closer look at the case and advancements in DNA technology finally led to a breakthrough in 2023.
Investigators were able to identify the remains as Nicole Alston, a 24-year-old woman from Manhattan, New York, who left the Big Apple in 2007 with her friend Angel Marie Thompson for a new life in Atlanta, Georgia. Her family said the last time they heard from her was Thanksgiving of that same year.
In a bizarre twist, for eight years after the body parts were found in 2007, Alston appeared to be alive and well — according to the use of social security benefits, food stamps and, at one point, Section 8 housing.
Turns out, it wasn’t Alston. Instead, it was her good friend Angel Marie Thompson, who she had begun her Atlanta adventure with years earlier. Authorities say she had been assuming Alston’s identity and collecting her benefits from 2007 to 2015, totalling $200,000.
After 16 years, human remains found in a bag were finally identified through DNA testing as Nicole Alston. Last month, her friend Angel Thompson was charged with concealing her death, Andrea Cavallier writes.
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