Remains found in Florida a DNA match for Maryland woman who left family in 1968

Dan Belson, Baltimore Sun
·2 min read

Authorities in Florida have linked human remains found in 1985 in a shallow grave to a Rockville woman who left her family half a century ago.

Police have identified Mary Alice Pultz’s boyfriend as a “person of interest” in her homicide, though he died decades ago, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

Pultz’s remains were found in 1985 by a construction crew working on a beach south of St. Augustine and her death was later ruled a homicide, though she remained unidentified for decades. A private forensics lab in Texas specializing in genetic genealogy was able to link Pultz to her family members, and in January confirmed the remains were Pultz’s, police said.

Pultz, who grew up in Rockville, had been estranged from her family since 1968 when she left Maryland with her boyfriend, John Thomas Fugitt. She was never reported missing in Maryland, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office in Florida said. The DNA link led to police speaking to her two surviving family members — a son living in Arizona and a sister living in Virginia.

Fugitt, who also went by Billy Joe Wallace, was sentenced to death in 1981 for a separate homicide in Georgia. He successfully appealed and had his conviction overturned twice, though he was ultimately sentenced to death a third and final time in 1986, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported at the time. Police said historical newspaper reports also indicated he ultimately died of a heart attack in prison in 1987. Though he is a person of interest, “other possibilities cannot be ruled out,” police said.

The woman’s skull had three burr holes — small holes drilled into the skull by surgeons to relieve pressure on the brain — police said, noting that they “believe she was involved in some type of event that caused the traumatic injury and would have required hospitalization.” The injuries and procedure would have happened after she left her family in Maryland, the sheriff’s office said.

Those with information related to Pultz or Fugitt are asked to contact the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office at crimetips@sjso.org.