Decades-Old Cold Case Reveals Georgia Woman Concealed Her Friend’s Death as Part of a Shady Scheme

A Georgia woman was arrested almost twenty years after her friend’s dismembered body was discovered on the side of the road. Angel Marie Thompson is not considered a suspect in the death of her friend Nicole Alston, but she is being charged with concealing Alton’s body as part of an identity theft scam that went on for nearly a decade.

The case goes back to December 2007, when the partial remains of an unidentified woman’s body were discovered inside a burning bag that was left on the side of a road in Hogansville, Georgia. The case went cold until 2023 when authorities identified the victim as 24-year-old Nicole Alston of New York City through a DNA match, according to a September 3 Facebook post from the Troup County Sheriff’s office.

Police say Alston’s family confirmed their last contact with her happened around Thanksgiving 2007 after she’d moved to Atlanta with Thompson. Although Thompson isn’t considered a suspect in Alston’s death, police allege she failed to report her friend missing and instead used her identity to gain access to her social security benefits, food stamp allotment and Section 8 Housing benefits. They add Thompson was wanted in New York for theft and identity fraud around the time she left the state.

The report goes on to say Thompson stopped stealing the benefits in 2015 when the Social Security Administration notified Alston that she would need to come into an office and reapply for her benefits in person. But by then, police say the total amount of Thompson’s shady scheme was valued at nearly $200,000.

Authorities arrested Angel Marie Thompson on August 19 charging her with concealing Nicole Alston’s death. The investigation into her murder continues as police have still not been able to identify a suspect.