Sheriff’s Office: Hollister murder victim found in ravine
UPDATE: 12/21/2017 2:06 p.m. The San Benito County Sheriff’s Office believes they have found the victim of a suspicious murder out of Hollister.
The Sheriff’s Office believes the body found in a ravine off of Salinas Grade Road in rural San Benito County is that of Yoon Ji. Ji had went missing on December 2 and her body was located Wednesday, December 20. Her husband, 49-year-old Sang Ji and his associate 45-year-old Jung Choi were arrested for her murder on December 6.
Both suspects are in custody, each with a bail of more than $2 million.
An autopsy will be done Friday where the identity will be confirmed.
————————————————————————————————————————————
PREVIOUS STORY: 12/18/2017: San Benito County officials say the body of Mrs. Ji is still unaccounted for and deputies are continuing to pursue leads in the case. They say the case is ever evolving and they are not able to give many other details at this time.
Mr. Ji and Ms. Choi will next be in court on Thursday.
———————————————————————————————————————–
San Benito Sheriff’s deputies are investigating what they believe could be a homicide.
Sang Ji and Jung Choi have been arrested and booked into the San Benito County Jail on suspicion of murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Authorities say on December 2, a woman in Los Angeles wanted to report her mother, who lives in unincorporated Hollister, as missing. According to the woman, she and her sister had not heard from their mother, Yoon Ji, in several days, and considered it strange because they spoke to her daily.
The women’s father, Sang Ji, 49, reportedly told them their mother went to South Korea, but family members in South Korea denied those claims. That prompted the woman to drive from Los Angeles to Hollister.
Once she made it to their parents’ home on Monte Cristo Court, she found her father with another woman, identified at Jung Choi, 45. Her father said Choi was a cousin, but she had never met her before. That’s when the woman contacted authorities to file a missing person’s report.
Since then, detectives have been investigating the case and believe the woman had been killed. A search warrant was served on Wednesday with the help of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Evidence Response Team and Santa Clara County Human Remains Detection dogs.
They say evidence was found to suggest the missing woman was killed, however her body has not been found.
Authorities are still investigating the relationship between the two suspects. They could be arraigned in the new few days.
