Remains Believed To Be Missing Woman In Mariposa Uncovered

MCSO update on the murder investigation of Wendy Pullins

Mariposa County, CA  — Mariposa County Sheriff’s investigators believe they have recovered the remains of Wendy Pullins, who disappeared in June of last year and disclosed that she was beaten to death.

“On Wednesday, November 29, detectives, with the assistance of search and rescue cadaver dogs, responded to a specific area identified through the investigation. As a team searched this area, the sheriff’s office located evidence and human remains that we believe to be Wendy Pullins,” advised Sheriff Jeremy Briese at a press conference on Friday.

57-year-old Pullins of Manteca was reported missing on June 15, 2022. During a Friday press conference that presented a timeline of the case, Briese recounted that on June 14, Pullins decided to stay at a friend’s house in the Stumpfield Mountain Road area on Southern Sierra Miwok allotment land due to problems completing paperwork at the Mariposa DMV. That is where she came face-to-face with her alleged killer, 42-year-old Justin Bolton, who was also living on the property.

Sheriff Briese also detailed what led to the murder, disclosing that Bolton had received word that Pullins may have information about or been involved in the death of his older brother, James Allen, and he confronted Pullins.

“Bolton was enraged, and he made a decision to physically assault Wendy. Bolton continued to beat her until she was deceased,” stated Sheriff Briese. “Bolton wrapped up her deceased body in plastic and put it inside her red Jeep. He then drove to a remote area near Midpines in the Sierra National Forest and disposed of Wendy’s body down a steep embankment.”

Bolton then drove the Jeep to the allotment land, where he left it.

“A few individuals located the Jeep and began driving it around Mariposa. Those individuals later learned that the Jeep belonged to the missing person, Wendy Pullins,” stated Sheriff Briese. “Rather than call the sheriff’s office, those individuals attempted to paint the Jeep green, and then they dumped it.”

The Jeep was found down an embankment on its side in September of last year with blood inside that was later positively identified as Pullins, sparking the homicide investigation, which included wiretapping social media, cell phones, and landline phones of those believed to be involved in Pullins disappearance. Detectives learned that an escape plan was being set up for Bolton, which included collecting money from friends and family to allow him to flee the county. Bolton was arrested last month for the homicide after being found hiding out in the town of Willits in Mendocino County, as reported here last month.

Sheriff Briese shared that others could still be charged in this case. His entire press conference can be viewed in the video box.