A mother-of-two who went missing in the late 1960s has finally been identified as the skeletal remains found on a beach in St. Augustine, Florida almost 40 years ago.
Mary Alice Pultz, a native of Rockville, Maryland, made the decision to leave her family behind at the age of 25 in 1968. Accompanied by a man named John Thomas Fugitt, she ventured into the unknown and ultimately became estranged from her loved ones. Tragically, this would mark the final encounter between Mary Alice and her family, leaving them with a lasting sense of loss.
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The sheriff’s office made an announcement last week, confirming that the remains discovered in 1985 by construction workers on Crescent Beach, Florida, have been positively identified as Pultz.
The investigation into Pultz’s death is ongoing and authorities are treating it as a homicide. Detectives have identified Fugitt as a person of interest in the case, although the details surrounding Pultz’s death are still unclear.
Fugitt, also known by the alias Billy Joe Wallace, was found guilty of the murder of his male roommate in Georgia in 1981. He was given the death penalty for the crime, but he passed away in prison before the execution could be carried out, as reported by the sheriff’s office.
Despite generating a few leads, the image did not provide any clear answers.
In 2023, detectives from the sheriff’s office collaborated with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to send the remains to a private lab in Texas. This lab successfully extracted DNA and developed a DNA profile.
Pultz’s living relatives, including her son Norman Jenkins of Yuma, Arizona, and her sister Patricia Allamong of Winchester, Virginia, have willingly provided DNA samples to be matched against the profile.
Detectives received confirmation of a match in January 2024, positively identifying the victim as Pultz.
Upon further analysis of the remains, Dr. Wendolyn Sneed, the medical examiner, discovered a range of injuries. These injuries included fractures in the nasal bones, multiple ribs, and the lower legs, some of which had already healed.
During their interviews with the family, detectives were able to ascertain that the burr holes were most likely performed after she vanished from their lives in 1968.
According to the release, Dr. Sneed stated that these injuries, along with the surgical burr holes, suggest a significant trauma that would have necessitated hospitalization, such as being in a car accident or being hit by a vehicle.
It is not clear whether Pultz had relocated to Florida with Fugitt, as there are no addresses or employment records available for the period between 1968 when she left Maryland and 1985 when her remains were discovered.
Detectives state that while Fugitt is a person of interest in the death, they cannot rule out other possibilities.
The detectives expressed their hope that the information gathered thus far would lead to a breakthrough, bringing closure to the family despite the considerable time that has passed.
Norman Jenkins, the son of Pultz who was quite young when she departed, expressed his curiosity, stating, “I simply wish to discover if there is anyone out there who may have crossed paths with or had any knowledge of my mother.”
