Body of missing Placer County woman found, sheriff says. Boyfriend arrested in her death

Authorities have retrieved a body they believe is a Placer County woman who went missing last week and arrested her boyfriend on suspicion of homicide in her death.

Kings Beach resident Patricia Portella-Wright, 48, and reported missing Friday after she failed to show up to work and was believed to be in the Reno area. The Placer County Sheriff’s Office later said they were searching for her boyfriend, Brent Clifford, 55, and was “a person of interest” in connection to another homicide, out of Reno. The Sheriff’s Office said she was last seen Aug. 4.

Officer Chris Johnson, a spokesman for the Reno Police Department, said Thursday that Clifford is now a suspect in the homicide stemming out of Reno. Investigators are still piecing together what happened in their case, but a warrant will be issued to extradite Clifford to Washoe County once its complete, Johnson said.

Clifford arrived in Reno sometime between Friday and Sunday, Johnson said. Officers found the friend on Sunday with a gunshot wound at a home in the 1300 block of Keystone Avenue, Johnson said.

The Washoe County Coroner’s Office has identified the victim as William Andrews, 68, of Reno. He died from a gunshot wound to his head, Justin Norton, a spokesman for the Washoe County Coroner’s Office, wrote in an email.

Clifford left with the victim’s car, a red 2003 Chevrolet Blazer, was arrested in Portola on Wednesday, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said.

On Thursday, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said they found a body in Washoe County, Nevada, down a steep embankment near Mt. Rose Highway. Authorities found the body using a drone.

The Washoe County Coroner’s Office later formally identified the body belonging to Portella-Wright. Sgt. David Smith, a spokesman for the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, said at the time he didn’t know specifically what led investigators to believe the woman was Portella-Wright.

But the investigation “as a whole” led deputies to the area, and sheriff’s officials obtained enough evidence to arrest Clifford on suspicion of homicide, Smith said.

Clifford was arrested on a warrant for identity theft and booked into the South Placer Jail. He faces murder and identity theft charges in connection to Portella-Wright’s death, Smith said, and is being held without bail.

“We are trying to figure how (the identity theft charge is) related” to the victim’s death, Smith said.

During a news conference, Smith declined to release any motive in connection to the death.

Smith said it’s unclear how Portella-Wright died, but that the investigation is ongoing. The Washoe County Search and Rescue team helped to recover the body.

“We are still in the early stages of all this,” Smith said.

This story was originally published August 15, 2024 at 12:22 PM.