1. Long-tailed search term: Skeletal remains identified woman disappeared
2. Long-tailed search term: Skeletal remains found woman disappeared 1968.
Accident – Death – Obituary News : A long-standing missing person case from 1968 has finally been resolved as authorities positively identified remains that were discovered almost 40 years ago on a beach in St. Augustine, Florida.
The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office recently confirmed that the remains found in a shallow grave on Crescent Beach in 1985 belong to Mary Alice Pultz, a woman who had been missing for nearly two decades before the discovery of her remains.
Sheriff Rob Hardwick expressed, “This investigation exemplifies our unwavering commitment to seeking justice. Through the expertise of our detectives and the use of advanced DNA technology, Mary Alice’s family has finally received some closure regarding her disappearance almost four decades ago.”
Mary Alice Pultz, originally from Rockville, Maryland, was 25 years old when she was last seen by her family. She had distanced herself from her family after leaving home with her then-boyfriend, John Thomas Fugitt, who also went by the alias Billy Joe Wallace. Fugitt was later convicted in the 1981 murder of his male roommate in Georgia and was sentenced to death. However, he passed away in prison before the execution could be carried out.
The circumstances surrounding Pultz’s death remain unclear, but detectives are treating it as a homicide and have identified Fugitt as a person of interest in the case.
Construction workers unearthed the skeletal remains at Crescent Beach on April 10, 1985, with the victim initially believed to be a white woman aged between 30 and 50. However, identification was not possible at the time.
In 2011, some of the remains were sent to the Florida Institute for Forensic Anthropology and Applied Science at the University of South Florida. Experts created a facial reconstruction in the hope of generating leads, but no significant breakthroughs emerged.
In 2023, the sheriff’s office collaborated with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and sent the remains to a private lab in Texas. DNA was extracted, leading to the creation of a DNA profile. Genealogists then traced Pultz’s living relatives, who provided DNA samples for comparison.
Medical examiner Dr. Wendolyn Sneed examined Pultz’s remains and observed multiple injuries, including fractures of the nasal bones, ribs, and lower legs. Additionally, three surgical burr holes were found in Pultz’s skull. According to John Hopkins Medicine, burr holes are used by surgeons to alleviate pressure on the skull, typically caused by conditions such as subdural hematomas or brain bleeds following head injuries.
Family interviews suggested that the burr holes were likely made after Pultz’s disappearance in 1968. Dr. Sneed noted that these injuries, along with the surgical burr holes, indicate severe trauma that would have necessitated hospitalization, such as involvement in a vehicular accident or being struck by a vehicle.
The sheriff’s office is continuing its investigation into Mary Alice Pultz’s death, aiming to bring closure to her family and seek justice for the decades-old case..
– Skeletal remains identified woman disappeared
– Skeletal remains found woman disappeared.
