GA - Angel Marie Thompson charged with 2007 murder of Nicole Alston and stealing her identity to claim over $200,000 in benefits - September 4, 2024

[Clearsky]

A woman's remains were found in a burning bag in 2007. Now her friend is under arrest and accused of assuming her identity for years.

The victim was finally identified through DNA testing in December 2023. Last month, the friend was charged with concealing the death of another.

www.11alive.com

TROUP COUNTY, Ga. — In 2007, 24-year-old Nicole Alston moved from Manhattan to Atlanta with her friend, Angel Marie Thompson, according to authorities. Her family last heard from her around Thanksgiving of that year.

 

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Warning: The following story contains information regarding graphic alleged physical violence.

TROUP COUNTY, Ga. – Authorities arrested a woman on Monday, August 19, 2024, in connection with the 2007 cold case murder of 24-year-old Nicole Alston.Angel Marie Thompson was charged with concealing her death after a DNA analysis conducted in early 2023 identified remains discovered on the side of a Troup County road as Alston.

Troup County Sheriff’s deputies found a smoldering black bag near the intersection of Whitfield and Stitcher Roads in the morning hours of December 6, 2007. The burning bag contained human remains consisting of body parts, but the head, hands, and feet were missing.

Woman charged with concealing death of friend found dismembered inside burning bag on side of road in 2007

Written by: E. George Published September 5, 2024 @ 5:45 PM ET Warning: The following story contains information regarding graphic alleged physical violence. TROUP COUNTY, Ga. - Authorities arrested a woman on Monday, August 19, 2024, in connection with the 2007 cold case murder of 24-year-old...

thegeorgiagazette.com

 

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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.

A woman has been arrested for concealing her friend’s body and stealing her identity

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.

www.the-independent.com

 

[dotr]

August 13 2025 rbbm.

Girlfriend charged with murder, identity theft 18 years after woman’s body was found missing hands, feet, and head

A girlfriend is accused of trafficking and killing Nicole Alston, then assuming her identity and using it for federal benefits for years.

www.11alive.com

Angel Thompson was arrested in connection in the 2007 cold case murder.
'FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — A woman once suspected but never charged is now facing a murder count, 18 years after her friend's body was found in a burning bag on a quiet roadside in Troup County.
Sources tell 11Alive that Angel M. Thompson has been charged with murder in connection with Nicole Alston's death. Thompson was booked in Fulton County Jail on Monday. Jail records show her murder warrant is dated Dec. 6, 2007, the same day Alston's remains were discovered.'

''A press conference is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 13, at 11 a.m. at the Fulton County Grand Jury Room. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is expected to outline the case against Thompson. The victim’s daughter, who has been flown in for the event, will speak publicly for the first time.''

 

[dotr]

UPDATE.
August 13, 2025

Woman charged with murder, identity theft nearly 18 years after dismembered body found inside burning bag

Written by: A. Smith Published August 13, 2025 @ 10:36 AM ET FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - Nearly 18 years after the dismembered body of a New York woman was found inside a burning bag along a rural Georgia road, authorities have charged her former girlfriend with murder and identity theft. Nicole...

thegeorgiagazette.com

''Authorities allege Thompson killed Alston by “homicidal violence by undetermined means,” possibly involving trauma to her throat or head, according to an arrest warrant. They believe Thompson was abusive toward her girlfriends and may have been motivated to kill Alston because she wanted to return to New York, which could have jeopardized Thompson’s access to financial benefits and exposed her outstanding warrants there.

Investigators say Thompson assumed Alston’s identity after her death, collecting Social Security benefits, food stamps and Section 8 housing in her name for eight years, an estimated $200,000 in fraud. She returned to using her own identity in 2015 after being contacted by the Social Security Administration.''

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The District Attorney and her team will outline the murder case and urge the public to share any information on the victim's trafficking and abuse, or on other potential victims.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

In a case described as "gruesome" by DA Fani Willis and "calculated and meticulous" by Sandy Springs Police Detective John Nanoff, Angel Thompson is accused of traveling with her girlfriend Nicole Alston in 2007, trafficking her, killing her and then assuming her identity to collect Social Security and other benefits for eight years.

Among the details that led to officials describing it as "gruesome" and "meticulous" were that Alston's body was ultimately found cut into 13 pieces, with no hands, feet or head — delaying her identification until 2023.

"She didn't deserve this," Alston's mother Sylvia Alston said Wednesday.
She said Nicole "was bubbly, she had a smile that was infectious." She was happy, and someone others called to talk to when they needed a kind or helping word.m"I just haven't seen her in so long," the mother said through tears

Mother of woman murdered by girlfriend in cracked cold case remembers her as bubbly, says 'I wish I never let her come to Georgia'

Sylvia Alston, the mother of 24-year-old Nicole Alston, who was murdered in Georgia after moving from New York with her girlfriend in 2007, spoke Wednesday.

www.11alive.com

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"She didn't deserve this," Alston's mother said at the press conference. She described Alston as bubbly, the life of the party, artistic and trusting — that last trait being what Thompson is accused of preying on and exploiting.
The case had previously gone cold for over 15 years. It reopened in 2023, when advanced DNA testing confirmed the remains belonged to Alston, a 24-year-old woman from Manhattan, New York, who had recently moved to Atlanta. At the time, Thompson was charged with concealing Alston's death and committing years of identity fraud in her name.

According to Willis and investigators who spoke Wednesday, Alston and Thompson were in a romantic relationship when they traveled to Georgia — with the district attorney describing it as becoming abusive and exploitative. Thompson was referred to as a "trafficker" who, on the day Alston's body was found, was allegedly already on dating sites looking for new women.

Girlfriend charged with murder, identity theft 18 years after woman’s body was found missing hands, feet, and head

A girlfriend is accused of trafficking and killing Nicole Alston, then assuming her identity and using it for federal benefits for years.

www.11alive.com

She said her office plans to have an indictment by the end of October and that it will include murder, human trafficking, and domestic violence charges.

Troup County investigator Clay Bryant said on Wednesday that it took a “true sociopath” to do what happened to Alston.

“They deserve some finality,” he added about Alston’s family. “They deserve the truth, and we're just lucky enough to find some facts to learn what happened to Nicole.”

Girlfriend charged with murder decades after dismembered remains of woman were found

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis called the case one of the most gruesome she’s ever seen

www.the-independent.com

 

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The scam that reportedly defrauded the agencies of approximately $200,000 came to an end in 2015 when the Social Security Administration contacted Thompson, then allegedly identifying herself as Alston, to come in to requalify for benefits. Afterwards, Thompson was forced to reassume her real identity.

On Aug. 19, 2024, TCSO investigators traveled to Atlanta and arrested Thompson in connection with the case, charging her with concealing the death of Alston, but they were not able to prove she was responsible for the murder

Woman finally charged for gruesome cold-case murder - LaGrange Daily News

A family may finally be getting justice for a gruesome murder that occurred nearly 18 years ago. In December 2017, the dismembered remains of then 24-year-old Nicole Alston were found in a burning bag with her hands, feet and head missing near the corner of Whitfield Road and Stitcher Road in...

www.lagrangenews.com

 

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