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SPANISH FORK — Police booked a missing woman's ex-boyfriend into the Utah County Jail Monday, five months after the woman's remains were found in the cellar of her former Spanish Fork residence, according to Spanish Fork Police Lt. Brandon Anderson.
Michael Ignatius Kufrin, 61, was arrested July 17 in Illinois and on Monday was extradited to Utah, where he was booked into jail, Anderson said. Kufrin was living with his girlfriend, Peggy Sue Case, at 80 N. 800 East when Case went missing in 1988.
Police were dispatched to the Spanish Fork residence May 22, when the current resident of the house found human remains. He had previously been told by neighbors that the former tenant of the property had gone missing and never been located.
The resident had noticed the dirt floor of the cellar was sinking and became suspicious. He dug down approximately 18 inches and found what appeared to be a human skull wrapped in a blanket and plastic mesh. He immediately exited the cellar and called the police.
An autopsy confirmed the remains found in the residence were Case's.
Case was reported missing by co-workers in 1988, and though the incident was thoroughly investigated by the Spanish Fork police, she was never found. Kufrin was identified as a person of interest in Case's disappearance.
Case was last seen alive with Kufrin at a party July 9, 1988, authorities said. After the gathering, Case called her office and said she was sick, then told her employer the following day that she had left town to buy a car.
Police questioned Kufrin several times, saying they received differing reports about where Case was. Kufrin initially said she was keeping in touch with him by phone, but he later declined to talk about her with police.
Kufrin was extradited in February 1989 from Nevada to answer theft charges and questions about Case's disappearance, according to The Deseret News. Kufrin still refused to answer questions about Case at a parole hearing in 1990 while serving a zero-to-five-year prison term for attempted theft.
Investigators drafted an affidavit in support of an arrest warrant for Kufrin using the new evidence and evidence from the original investigation, Anderson said. The warrant was approved by a judge and led to Kufrin's arrest in July.
