Identification of woman’s bones triggers homicide probe two years after her disappearance

Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office detectives have launched a homicide investigation into the death of a woman whose bones were discovered in a park two years after she vanished.

Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Spencer Crum said Kerry Bailly, the estranged husband of Annie Bailly, is “one of the people we are looking at.”

On Tuesday, detectives searched and removed evidence from his home, the sergeant said.

“Two years is a long time to go back, but there are still viable leads,” Crum said.

Annie Bailly, 63, was reported missing on Dec. 7, 2014, by her husband, he said. Her car, keys and purse had been left at her home in Penngrove, Calif., a community wedged between Petaluma and Cotati, Crum said.

At the time, authorities deemed Annie Bailly’s disappearance suspicious, and her family offered a $10,000 reward for help finding her.

The case went cold for two years until Feb. 27, when motorists involved in a collision near Lagunitas Creek, a watershed in Marin County, found a body and notified authorities. Investigators with the Marin County Sheriff’s Office trekked down into Point Reyes National Seashore and recovered the skeletal remains.

After examining the bones and reviewing dental records, coroner’s officials identified the remains as those of Annie Bailly on March 8, Crum said. Although a cause of death was not released, he said, evidence suggests Annie Bailly was murdered.

Kerry Bailly did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kerry Bailly told KNTV-TV that the couple had been married for about 16 years, but were going through a divorce. They did not share any children.

He told the station that he “couldn’t live with her: marijuana and antidepressants. They do not go together. They mess up your mind and I’d had enough.”

The Sheriff’s Office is working with the FBI and the National Park Service on the case because her remains were found on federal land.

Anyone with details about the case is urged to call sheriff’s investigators at (707) 565-2185.

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