Her Name Was Nicole Alston: Mystery of Murdered and Dismembered Woman Solved

For nearly two decades, she was a nameless victim in a cold case file.

Now, she is Nicole Alston again.

In 2007, authorities in Georgia found a dismembered body—13 parts, carefully scattered. Missing were the hands, the feet, the head. With no way to identify her, and no one yet linking her disappearance to this horror, the case went cold.

Her family, however, never let go.

Nicole’s mother, Sylvia Alston, kept returning to Georgia. Over and over again, she asked for help. She searched. She waited. And when years passed with no answers, she still believed something had gone terribly wrong.

She was right.

A Break Through DNA—and a Sister’s Search

It wasn’t a police lab or a tip line that cracked the case open. It was something more personal.

Nicole’s sister had uploaded her DNA to an ancestry website. It matched with a profile in the national criminal database. From that tiny match, investigators finally put a name to the remains.

Nicole Alston had been found.

That moment, said Troup County investigator Clay Bryant, wasn’t just about solving a case. It was about giving a family the truth they deserved. “Everybody talks about closure,” Bryant said. “There ain’t no such thing as closure… But they deserve finality. They deserve the truth.”

A Life Stolen—Twice

As the investigation unfolded, a disturbing story emerged.

Prosecutors say the woman Nicole had moved to Georgia with—a woman named Angel Thompson—didn’t just kill her. She lived as her.

In the days after Nicole’s murder, Thompson allegedly rented their apartment out, sold Nicole’s car, and created new online dating profiles under Nicole’s name. For eight years, she used Nicole’s identity to collect over $139,000 in public benefits—Social Security, food stamps, and housing aid.

By 2010, she had even renewed Nicole’s driver’s license, replacing the photo with her own.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis called it one of the most gruesome and calculated crimes she’s seen in nearly 30 years. She believes Thompson acted alone—and may have trafficked Nicole before her death.

They’re building the indictment now. Murder. Human trafficking. Fraud. It’s expected by October.

“She Didn’t Deserve This”

Nicole’s mother stood in front of reporters, trying to find words for something no parent should have to carry.

“She didn’t deserve this, I just, I wish I’d never let her come to Georgia.” Sylvia said.

Nicole was 24 when she left home. She was an artist, her mother said, and she had learning challenges that made her depend on others. “She was bubbly,” Sylvia said. “She had a smile that was infectious.”

She called home 10 days before she disappeared, saying the woman she was with had become abusive. She wanted to come home. But she also said she had it under control.

That was the last call.

Now, the Work Isn’t Over

Willis believes there may be more victims—other women, possibly lured into similar danger. She’s asking the public to come forward with any memories from 2007, especially from an apartment complex then known as Genesis Gardens, now called Palmetto Reserve.

“She had value,” Willis said. “She had worth. And she did not deserve this.”

Willis said her office believes this was a romantic relationship that turned into domestic violence.

Nicole Alston’s story could have ended in silence. But it didn’t—because her family kept speaking, and because a few investigators refused to let her case gather dust.

Now, the truth has a name.

And her name is Nicole.

⚠️ Reminder: Crime articles contain only charges and information from police reports and law enforcement statements. Suspects and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.