Mary Alice Pultz St. Johns County | Homicide | 1985 | Active Investigation
The Sunshine State. Warm waves. White sand. The kind of place people come to start over — to disappear into something better. But some people disappear here and never come back. And the sand keeps its secrets for a long time. Sometimes forever. Until now. There are names that haven't been spoken in decades. Cases that went cold before some of us were born. Files that gathered dust while the world moved on.
We don't move on.
This is Florida Unsolved.
The Discovery
Crescent Beach, April 10, 1985. Construction workers building a new beach walkover discovered human remains buried in a shallow grave. The victim, buried for years, was a white female estimated to have been between 30 and 50 years old at the time of death. Her death was ruled a homicide. For almost 40 years she was just one among many Jane Does.
The Face Without a Name
In 2011, the victim’s skull and mandible were sent to the Florida Institute for Forensic Anthropology and Applied Science at the University of South Florida. There, forensic experts were able to produce a facial reconstruction. While new leads are said to have surfaced, she would not get her name back for another 13 years.
In 2022, SJSO detectives attended training on cold case homicides in which forensic genetic genealogy was presented. They brought their newfound knowledge back to the Major Crimes Unit (MCU) and, after consulting with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), submitted portions of the remains to Othram, a Texas-based laboratory specializing in advanced DNA techniques. The lab was able to successfully extract a viable DNA profile. This sample was then processed against the consumer-facing genealogy databases, the results of which identified potential relatives.
Mary Alice
Sergeant Gene Tolbert (MCU) traveled to both Virginia and North Carolina to meet with the possible relatives, discuss the case, and obtain DNA samples. The samples were sent out for processing and in January 2024 the detectives received the results. It was a match and the victim finally had her name back. She was Mary Alice Pultz.
Mary Alice was born in Rockville, Maryland, in 1943. She was a mother and a sister, survived by her son, Norman Jenkins, and sister, Patricia Allamong.
Her son, Norman Jenkins, said: "I would just like to know if anyone ever saw her or knew her."
The Last Known Chapter
Her family reports that Mary Alice left Maryland with her boyfriend, John Thomas Fugitt (a/k/a Billy Joe Wallace) in 1968 at 25 years old. She appears to have been estranged from her family, never communicating with them after her departure per the family’s account. Her family never reported her missing. The speculation was that she left for either Georgia or Florida and had eventually been killed by Fugitt.
There is, as of now, no record of Mary Alice between 1968 and the time of her death (still unknown) — no recorded addresses, no documented employment history, nothing documenting her presence in Florida.
As for Fugitt, he was convicted of murdering a male roommate in Georgia in 1981, receiving the death sentence. Interestingly, his conviction was twice reversed on appeal. He was, however, tried and convicted again being re-sentenced to death.
Prior to his execution, Fugitt died in prison.
What the Bones Tell Us
Analysis of Mary Alice’s remains indicated a past history of substantial trauma. Her skull contained three surgical burr holes, indicative of head trauma resulting in intracranial pressure (bleeding, fluid build-up, tissue swelling, etc.) which can only be treated by relieving the pressure.
Wendolyn Sneed, M.D., Chief Medical Examiner for District 23, completed the most recent examination and observed, in addition to the head injury, healed fractures in the lower limbs as well as ribs, and fractured nasal bones. There was also evidence of an untreated oral abscess which would have likely been quite painful.
The sum total and extent of the injuries (sans the unrelated abscess) are consistent with a motor vehicle accident as a passenger or having been struck by a motor vehicle. This is not to say that there could not have been other trauma, e.g., injury to the nasal bones and ribs can result from physical violence. Regardless, the examiner was clear that the injuries were historical and not the cause of Mary Alice’s death. The actual cause of death was either not determined or simply not publicly disclosed.
Investigative Gaps
This is clearly not a closed case, as evidenced by the recent activity and findings. SJSO considers it active and ongoing.
Questions in need of answers — How did Mary Alice come to be in Florida? Buried in Crescent Beach? Who killed her and why?
John Thomas Fugitt was never deemed a suspect early on. The fact is that Fugitt was in prison for four years before Mary Alice’s remains were found. By the time she was identified, Fugitt was long dead. The window to question who should have been the primary person of interest has long since closed. Likely forever.
No Expiration Date
The case of Mary Alice Pultz underscores exactly why the timely identification of Jane and John Does matters. Her case may go unsolved simply because we didn’t have the technology then that we do now.
When in doubt, report. Mary Alice’s family never reported her missing. Context, not judgement, is relevant in this case though. It was 1968 and Mary Alice was an adult. She left voluntarily with a boyfriend. No one thought she was missing, at least not initially. There were no national databases back then and the police could do little in any case. Estrangement does not imply foul play. But we have no excuse today.
If You Have Information
Contact SJSO at crimetips@sjso.org or Crime Stoppers at 1-888-277-TIPS (8477).