Body found in Riverbank could be missing Nevada grandmother

RIVERBANK — Detectives on Wednesday were investigating a homicide after Stanislaus County coroner officials unearthed a woman's body in the back yard of a house a few blocks south of Patterson Road.

The woman is believed to be Peggy Herlacher, 73, of Silver Springs, Nev., who was reported missing July 24, her family said. Coroner officials had not identified the woman.

Herlacher's granddaughter said she believes the woman's grandson, James Masterson, 22, buried her in the back yard underneath a garden. She said the body was found at Masterson's maternal grandfather's home in the 2500 block of Dobbins Lane in Riverbank. Herlacher is Masterson's paternal grandmother.

"I never pictured him as a violent person," said Herlacher's granddaughter, Michelle Smith, 32, of Riverbank. "But who else could it be?"

The day after Herlacher was reported missing, Masterson was pulled over for a traffic violation by the California Highway Patrol in Sacramento County. The CHP found Masterson driving his grandmother's car with her jewelry and credit cards inside.

Masterson has denied knowing his grandmother's whereabouts to family members and detectives.

He has been in custody on theft and drug charges in Sacramento County for the past month, while family members and detectives searched for Herlacher in Nevada, Modesto and Ripon.

About 5 p.m. Tuesday, Stanislaus County coroner officials arrived at the Dobbins Lane home.

Deputy Coroner Tom Killian said authorities used shovels to dig into the soil and recover the woman's body. Coroner officials were planning to use dental records to identify the body.

Killian said there were residents at the home Tuesday evening but no arrests were made there.

Nevada sheriff on case

Stanislaus County Undersheriff Bill Heyne said he could not release information about the investigation because the Lyon County Sheriff's Department of Nevada was handling the case.

Lyon County sheriff's officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday evening. Two Lyon County sheriff's detectives were at the Riverbank home for a few hours Wednesday afternoon questioning the residents.

The family members said the ordeal began in July, when Masterson was living at the Riverbank home with his grandfather and aunt. Smith, who is Masterson's cousin, said he was kicked out after allegedly stealing from the house and selling the items on Craigslist.

Masterson, who grew up in Modesto, moved to Herlacher's mobile home in Silver Springs on July 17. She and her husband had moved there in 1999. Her husband died in 2001.

She was a retiree living on a modest income, her family said, but she lived a happy life in the small rural town about 35 miles northeast of Carson City.

"She wasn't about money; she was about family," Smith said. "She would give you the last dollar she had."

Herlacher would spend some of it on jewelry sold on TV shopping networks. "She would just sit on her chair and say 'I'm going shopping,' " Smith said.

Smith said she talked to her grandmother on the phone a few days before she went missing. The conversation was short, she said, and Herlacher didn't sound cheerful as she normally did.

A few days passed, and family members didn't hear from Herlacher.

Authorities were notified, and a search of Herlacher's mobile home found her and her grandson gone. Her car also was missing.

CHP pulled over grandson

On the same day Herlacher was reported missing, Smith said she encountered Masterson at his grandfather's Riverbank home. His grandfather and aunt were gone on vacation, and Smith said she later discovered Masterson had broken into the home to get inside.

Masterson had his grandmother's white four-door Chevrolet Cavalier.

"We asked him if he knew where Grandma was," said Smith, who lives around the corner from the Dobbins Lane home. "He just told us that she let him borrow her car, and that he didn't know where she was."

Several hours later, Masterson was booked at the Sacramento County Jail after the CHP arrested him during the traffic stop. He was being held without bail Wednesday awaiting trial on charges of possession of stolen property and heroin.

In recent days, the residents at the Dobbins Lane home noticed something was different about the way their backyard garden looked, Smith said. It just looked like things had been misplaced, so they called Nevada detectives.

She said authorities had searched the home before, but they didn't find clues.

Smith said Masterson's grandfather and aunt have fully cooperated with detectives, and they did not know someone was buried in their yard.

"You would never think your grandson would do such a thing," Smith said. "I'm sure they're devastated. I'm sure they're horrified and confused."

Bee staff writer Rosalio Ahumada can be reached at rahumada@modbee.com or 578-2394.