The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office has announced a breakthrough in a case that has gripped the local community: a missing 47-year-old man, Matthew Clark, has been found murdered and buried in a shallow grave, as confirmed by a recent social media post by the Sheriff's Office. Sofia Fermin, the 38-year-old live-in girlfriend of the victim, has been arrested and charged with his murder, while an accomplice, 42-year-old Jerry Mulford, remains at large and is the subject of an ongoing manhunt. The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office is offering a cash reward through Sacramento Valley Crime Stoppers for information leading to Mulford's arrest.
Clark was originally reported missing back in January 2024 following an argument with Fermin, and her subsequent activity, including selling his truck, raised suspicions leading to the investigation; her brother, who made the initial report, suggested she could be involved. Detectives worked diligently, tracing evidence over state lines, where the victim's truck was found, processed, and yielded fingerprints that belonged to Mulford, while Fermin, being questioned while in custody for a separate incident, provided conflicting information about Clark's whereabouts, Virginia Lopez, in a statement to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, shares relief and confidence that justice will be served, while others who knew the victim, like Sarah Guidi, express shock and send their condolences.
According to the details shared by the Sheriff's Office, the homicide detectives' investigation, which included numerous interviews and warrants, led them to suspect that Clark was shot by Fermin after the argument in December 2023 and was buried on a property in Rio Linda. An FBI Evidence Response Team, alongside Sheriff’s Detectives, unearthed a mummified body with at least five gunshot wounds from the property in December 2024; the autopsy confirmed both the identity of the body as Clark and the cause of death as homicide. Fermin is now behind bars, ineligible for bail, and awaiting her next court date on March 27.
