Husband reported Fla. woman missing before she was found buried behind St. Martin home
A South Florida woman found buried in the backyard of a St. Martin home was reported missing by her husband about six weeks after she packed up her belongings and left their apartment, according to the missing persons report.
Sarah Jane Willard’s husband told the Coral Springs, Florida, Police Department he didn’t report her missing right away because she was “extremely bipolar” and had a tendency to leave town for weeks to meet up with people she had met online, the report said.
Willard’s body was found buried behind a home on Sweetbriar Street last week. The home’s owner, Phillip Allen York, 54, was arrested on a charge of murder.
According to Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, Willard and York had met online.
Willard’s husband said he last saw her shortly after 10 p.m. Oct. 28, 2019, before he went to bed.
At 6 a.m. the following morning, the report said, Willard’s husband woke up to discover his wife had packed up and left.
Willard’s husband told authorities his wife did not take her medication like she was supposed to, but usually stayed in contact with someone in the family during her travels.
Willard’s husband said he last spoke to her via text message on Oct. 29, 2019, the report said, when she told him she was headed to Texas to meet someone she had met online.
Her husband said he checked his wife’s phone usage and it showed that she had spoken to someone for “several more minutes” after they last communicated on Oct. 29.
Willard’s phone hadn’t been used since then, he told police, and her bank account showed her last transaction was at a Pizza Hut on Nov. 1.
The family told police Willard had never been gone for six weeks without contacting anyone.
Since Willard’s husband last exchanged texts with her, he said he’s called her phone but each time it goes straight to voicemail.
Willard was entered into the National Crime Information Center Database as a missing person on Dec. 16.
A criminal investigation began in Mississippi on Feb. 6 after Jackson County deputies got a call from the FBI Safe Streets Task Force in reference to the Florida woman.
Evidence led investigators to York’s home, where Willard’s body was discovered.
York is being held at the Jackson County jail on a total bond of $350,000.
York is a convicted felon, who was previously convicted of malicious wounding, a charge similar to aggravated assault in Mississippi.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, District Attorney’s Office, Mississippi State Medical Examiner, the Jackson County coroner and the FBI Safe Streets Task Force are working together on the investigation into the woman’s death.
This story was originally published February 20, 2020 at 5:15 PM.
