Authorities in Florida say they have finally identified a woman whose remains were found on a beach in St. Johns County in 1985.
A group of construction workers digging the footing for a beach walkover discovered the human remains in a shallow grave on Crescent Beach.
The initial investigation revealed that the victim was a white woman, possibly between the ages of 30 and 50 at the time of her death. Her death was determined to be homicide.
Progress began to be made in the case In 2023 after, detectives sent portions of the remains to a private lab in Texas that specializes in advanced techniques in forensic genetic genealogy.
The lab team built a DNA profile for the victim, which was submitted to consumer genealogy databases used by millions.
In January, detectives got a confirmed match and were able to identify the victim as Mary Alice Pultz. The mother of two was 25 when she disappeared.
She was last seen by her family in 1968 when she left with her boyfriend, John Thomas Fugitt — also known as Billy Joe Wallace — was sentenced to death in Georgia related to a 1981 murder of a male roommate. He died in prison befroe his execution.
"This investigation is a powerful example that we will never give up," St. Johns Sheriff Rob Hardwick said. "The combination of highly skilled detectives and advanced DNA technology has given Mary Alice's family some answers about her disappearance close to 40 years ago."
Fugitt is considered a suspect in Pultz's death, but detectives say other possibilities cannot be ruled out and they continue to investigate.
