Landlord who ‘murdered tenant and dumped body at bottom of lake’ arrested 14 years later

The former landlord of a woman missing since 2006 has been arrested for killing the 46-year-old after detectives finally cracked the cold case murder.

Jimmy Wolfenbarger, 57, is accused of allegedly murdering Holly Simmons, a mother-of-one, putting her body in a boat and sinking the vessel at the bottom of a lake.

Holly’s body was found submerged and pinned under concrete bags inside the boat by a recreational diver in July 2009, close by to her home in Horseshoe Bend, near Forth Worth, Texas.

After 14 years of her death being considered a mystery, Holly’s killer, allegedly Wolfenbarger, was arrested by police on May 3 and charged with one count of murder, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).

Holly was reported missing by her 17-year-old daughter in 2006 after dropping her her child off at school the previous day. That was the last time she was seen alive.

Following Simmons’ disappearance, her house was combed for evidence and neighbors, coworkers friends and family were interviewed by detectives. The Llano County Sheriff’s Office and the Texas Rangers tried to crack the case for three years but failed to locate Holly dead or alive, a police statement said.

But finally, in 2009, thanks to a recreational diver, Holly’s body was found in a submerged aluminum boat at the bottom of a lake near her home.

Her body was pinned down by concrete bags, police added, and was recovered by the Texas Department of Public Safety dive team. Her remains were formally identified via dental records and her death was ruled as a homicide, according to the Llano County Sheriff’s Office.

Then, in 2016, the Texas Rangers Unsolved Crimes Investigation Program began reviewing the case in a bid to find Holly’s killer, and named Wolfenbarger as a suspect following a five-year investigation.

At the time of the alleged murder, Wolfenbarger was Holly’s landlord and lived near her home in an RV park. According to police, Wolfenbarger turned himself in to the Lubbock County Jail on Wednesday and was released after posting $2 million bond, the sheriff’s office has said.

Wolfenbarger has been ordered to surrender his passport and will appear at court charged with Holly’s death on a date yet to be determined.

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