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Bones Found In Fiddletown Confirmed To Be Missing Link In Missing Ripon Woman Case |
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Tuesday, 17 July 2007 |
 It was officially announced yesterday that the skeletal
remains found last Wednesday in Fiddletown are indeed the bones of Mary Starkey
the missing woman from Ripon. Local
CYA crews working in Fiddletown discovered the body, wrapped in a blanket, 10
yards off of the roadway, coincidentally the same day that the San Joaquin
Sheriff’s Office had reported that they would be entering the County on a
possible lead. The Manteca man, Roy Gerald Smith, a 45-year-old convicted sex offender who has been
the focus of the case plead guilty in court on Monday. The San Joaquin DA’s
office reported that Smith entered a plea to avoid the death penalty as his
defense said Smith is genuinely sorry for his actions.
Family
said Smith came to Starkey's home June 15, 2005, on the premise of purchasing a
boat and left for a bank to get money.Smith faces life in prison
without the possibility of parole. Starkey followed
him in her car. She was never seen again, but her car was found four days later
in the parking lot of a Ripon winery where Smith worked. A surveillance tape
showed Smith leaving the car in the parking lot, investigators said, and they
arrested him the following day. Investigators believe that Smith murdered
Starkey and then drove to Amador County the following day to dump her body.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 17 July 2007 )
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