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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.
In August 2024, Thompson was arrested and charged with concealing the death of Alston.
Prosecutors allege that Thompson, after the discovery of Alston’s remains, "began identifying herself as Alston and was collecting Alston’s (social security) benefits, food stamp allotment, acquiring Section 8 housing all as Nicole Alston,” according to a news release.
But the Troup County Sheriff’s Office added that it "has not been determined who actually killed Alston and the investigation continues.”
So the question remains — who killed her?
A gruesome discovery
A suspicious black bag left smoldering on an Atlanta street horrified locals when it was found.
Deputies responded to the intersection of Whitfield Road and Stitcher Road on December 6, 2007, where they discovered the burning bag. Inside were partial human remains.
It was determined that the remains were of an adult Black woman, but no identity was made.
Meanwhile, Thompson allegedly took over her friend’s identity after she died.
The charade ended in 2015 when the Social Security Administration tried to contact Alston to have her requalify for benefits, the sheriff’s office said. At that point, Thompson took back her own identity.
But investigators began to connect the dots and link the two cases for the first time when DNA in the 2007 human remains case was sent in early 2023 to labs in Virginia and Houston for analysis as part of a renewed focus on cold cases.
"Those results were then sent to the GBI crime lab for comparison,” they said. “On December 13, 2023 our office received word that a positive DNA match was made and the identity was that of Nicole Alston whose last known residence was Manhattan, New York and she was 24 years of age at that time.”
This led to investigators speaking with Alston’s family, who said they lost contact with her around Thanksgiving 2007 after she moved to Atlanta with Thompson.
Investigator Clay Bryant determined that following Alston’s death, Thompson began identifying herself as Alston and was collecting her benefits.
On August 19, Thompson was arrested and charged with concealing Alston’s death.
“At this time, we can’t really say 100% if this person was the killer or not,” Sgt. Stewart Smith with the Troup County Sheriff’s Office told local ABC affiliate WSB.
“We don’t believe the actual homicide took place in Troup County. We believe it took place somewhere else, and it [Alston’s remains] was just discarded there on the side of the road.”
Thompson was released from county jail on a $15,000 bond.
