Woman vanished in woods in 1983, Oregon cops say. Her boyfriend just was charged
More than four decades after a woman vanished in the woods, her boyfriend has been arrested in her slaying, Oregon deputies say.
Mark Sanfratello, 72, was arrested in Chico, California, in connection with the 1983 death of Teresa Peroni, the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office said in a June 30 Facebook post.
That year, 27-year-old Peroni was in a relationship with 29-year-old Sanfratello, deputies said.
While the couple was at a party, they got into “an argument over Peroni having another lover,” according to deputies and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.
They walked into a wooded area near Selma on or about July 4, 1983; it was the last time Peroni was seen, deputies said.
Peroni’s family soon reported her missing, prompting an investigation, deputies said, adding that they determined her disappearance to be suspicious.
Following a joint investigation with the Josephine County District Attorney’s Office, however, “there was not enough probable cause” for a criminal proceeding, deputies said.
Fourteen years after Peroni’s disappearance, a human skull was found on a nearby property, deputies said.
The area was searched with help from a cadaver dog, but no other remains were found, according to deputies.
Deputies said they sent the skull to the University of North Texas for DNA analysis.
For decades, Peroni’s case remained stagnant.
Her missing person file was uploaded to NamUs in 2013.
In 2024, Josephine County deputies reopened Peroni’s case.
Deputies said they started the investigation by searching for anyone still living who may have had some involvement in her case.
After “additional DNA was collected,” it was submitted to the University of North Texas, where it was confirmed the skull found in 1997 belonged to Peroni, deputies said.
With the DNA results, the initial investigation and people who knew Peroni, there was enough for a criminal case, and “a Josephine County Grand Jury indicted Sanfratello on the charge of murder” on June 27, according to deputies.
The Chico Police Department arrested Sanfratello the next day, deputies said.
Sanfratello will be extradited to Josephine County to stand trial, deputies said.
Selma is in southern Oregon, about a 160-mile drive south from Eugene.
This story was originally published July 1, 2025 at 10:41 AM with the headline "Woman vanished in woods in 1983, Oregon cops say. Her boyfriend just was charged."
