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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 Alston, 24, was last heard from by her family around Thanksgiving 2007 after leaving Manhattan to live in Atlanta with her girlfriend, Angel Marie Thompson, investigators said. On Dec. 6, 2007, Troup County deputies responding to a call about a suspicious burning bag discovered partially burned human remains missing the hands, feet and head.
The case went cold for more than a decade. In 2023, investigators sent DNA evidence to two forensic labs for analysis, which confirmed the remains were Alston’s. That match, officials said, led them to reinterview family members and retrace Alston’s final weeks.
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.
Thompson was first arrested in August 2023 on charges of concealing Alston’s death. On Tuesday, she was taken into custody in Sandy Springs and charged with murder and two counts of identity theft. She remains in the Fulton County Jail without bond.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is expected to hold a press conference on Wednesday to outline the case and ask for information from the public about possible trafficking, abuse, or other victims connected to Thompson.