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.
On December 6, 2007, authorities in Troup County meanwhile discovered human remains in a burning bag that had been dumped off to the side of the road.
There had not been a connection between these two incidents until last year, when DNA testing finally revealed that Alston was the victim whose remains were in the bag -- with the sheriff's office describing the remains only as partial, as the hands, feet and head were missing.
Now, the sheriff's office announced, Thompson is under arrest in connection to Alston's death. They arrested Thompson last month and charged her with concealing Alston's death, then living under Alston's identity and collecting her benefits for years.
There has been no determination of who may have actually killed Alston, the sheriff's office noted. They 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 for a period of eight years."
The sheriff's office says across that time period, Thompson collected about $200,000 in benefits -- a separate case now being investigated "by additional agencies in Georgia." Thompson's run of posing as Alston ended, the sheriff's office said, in 2015 when the Social Security Administration tried to contact Alston to have her requalify for benefits.
That may have been the end of it, except the sheriff's office said that DNA in the 2007 human remains case was sent in early 2023 to labs in Virginia and Houston for analysis.
"Those results were then sent to the GBI crime lab for comparison. 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," a release said.
The investigation led to contact with Alston's family, which connected the dots to her 2007 move to Atlanta with Thompson.
"Angel Marie Thompson was arrested August 19th and charged with Concealing the Death of Nicole Alston. At this time it has not been determined who actually killed Alston and this investigation continues," the Troup County Sheriff's Office said. "Nothing further at this time."