Prosecutors dismiss murder charge in Buchanan Dam woman’s killing– for now
Buchanan Dam woman Holly Marie Simmons went missing in 2006 and her body was discovered in 2009. Her landlord, Jimmy Don Wolfenbarger, was charged with her murder in 2021, but that charge was recently dropped. Courtesy photos
The 33rd & 424th District Attorney’s Office has dismissed the first-degree murder charge against Jimmy Don Wolfenbarger, the landlord accused of killing his tenant, 46-year-old Buchanan Dam woman Holly Marie Simmons, nearly 20 years ago.
While the charge has been dismissed, prosecutors and law enforcement will continue their investigation and potentially reopen the case if more information is found.
“The case is dismissed for now and undergoing further investigation,” District Attorney Perry Thomas told DailyTrib. “We really don’t know where we’re headed with it. I can’t speak on it (more) because it is still a pending investigation.”
A hearing for the case in the 33rd & 424th District Court had been planned for April 20. But, according to Thomas, the charge was dropped earlier this week.
Background
Wolfenbarger was arrested in 2021 and charged with the murder of Simmons following a lengthy investigation into her 2006 disappearance and the discovery of her body at the bottom of Inks Lake in 2009.
The last time Simmons was seen alive was in November 2006 when she dropped her 17-year-old daughter off at school.
Three years later, in 2009, a recreational diver reportedly found human remains covered in hardened bags of concrete in an aluminum boat that had been submerged in Inks Lake. Those remains were identified as belonging to Simmons by the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office and her death was ruled a homicide.
In 2016, the Texas Rangers reviewed the case extensively and partnered with the Llano County Sheriff’s Office to dive deeper into the matter. Five years later, in 2021, Wolfenbarger was charged with the killing of Simmons and arrested in Lubbock County, where he had been living at the time.
According to a Department of Public Safety statement issued in 2021 after the arrest, Wolfenbarger was Simmons’ landlord and lived in an RV near her home.
A Facebook page operated by Simmons’ family, Justice for Holly Simmons, has provided consistent updates on the case for years.