Girlfriend arrested, accomplice wanted after missing man’s mummified remains found in grave

SACRAMENTO COUNTY, Calif. (TCN) -- An accomplice is still at large while the girlfriend of a man whose mummified remains were found in a shallow grave is in custody.

According to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, in January 2024, officials received a report that 47-year-old Matthew Clark disappeared following an argument he had with his live-in girlfriend, 38-year-old Sofia Fermin. Clark’s brother told the sheriff’s office Fermin had recently sold Clark’s vehicle and other property, and Fermin possibly had something to do with the disappearance.

Several months later, in June 2024, the San Joaquin Sheriff’s Office located Clark’s truck in their jurisdiction. Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office detectives recovered the vehicle and found 42-year-old Jerry Mulford’s fingerprints inside.

Investigators interviewed Fermin, who was in custody for an unrelated crime, and she reportedly claimed she did not know where Clark was. Fermin allegedly told officials she believed Clark was likely in a rehabilitation facility within the state.

According to the sheriff’s office, further investigation revealed that in December 2023, Fermin allegedly shot Clark after an argument, and his body was likely buried on U Street in Rio Linda. In December 2024, the sheriff’s office and FBI Evidence Response Team executed a search warrant on the property and found Clark’s mummified remains in a shallow grave. A forensic pathologist determined Clark sustained at least five gunshot wounds, and his death was ruled a homicide.

The sheriff’s office obtained an arrest warrant for Fermin on a charge of murder and for Mulford for accessory after the fact. Deputies arrested Fermin at her home in Sacramento on Dec. 23, 2024. She remains held in the Sacramento County Main Jail without bail and is scheduled to appear in court on March 27. Mulford has not yet been found, and investigators believe he might have fled the state.

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