Update: Skull found at Utah property identified as Peggy Sue Case

The victim’s former boyfriend has always been a person of interest, according to police.

The Utah Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed on Wednesday that the bones found in the cellar of a Spanish Fork, Utah, home were of Peggy Sue Case. She’d been missing since 1988.

The Daily Herald reports that although the medical office is still trying to determine the cause of death, they used dental records to make an exact match to Case. A tenant who now lives at the home where Case lived when she disappeared, called police after he found a skull earlier this week, buried under the cellar shed in the backyard. He told authorities that he noticed a sag in the dirt floor and began digging. He uncovered a human skull, wrapped in a mesh plastic bag and a blanket, buried about 18 inches deep into the ground.

Case was last seen on on July 9, 1988, while attending a hot tub party at her friend’s house, with her boyfriend, Michael Kurfin. According to others at the party, the couple argued that night after Kurfin accused Case of talking to other men. The next day, Case never made it into work and never called in. Instead, Kurfin called in for her, but her co-workers became worried when she never showed up again and never called in herself.

Kurfin has always been a person of interest in the case, but with little evidence to go on, authorities never detained him. He was arrested in 1988 in an unrelated theft case and ended up spending five years in prison. The Salt Lake Tribune reports that while incarcerated, he refused to talk about Case or answer any questions about her disappearance.

ORIGINAL Story: Human skull found on property where woman who disappeared in 1988 once lived

Upon release from prison, Kurfin moved to Illinois, but Detective Carl Johnston with the Spanish Fork police said that while working with the police department, he would call Kurfin every year to ask if he had heard from Case. Johnson said that as soon as Kurfin realized that the call was about Case, he would hang up the phone.

On Monday, Lt. Matt Johnson said that at this time, Kurfin’s whereabouts are not known. However, authorities are not yet asking for the public’s assistance in locating him.

Check back with Crime Online as additional information becomes available.

[Feature Image: Police Handout]