Murdered woman’s boyfriend named suspect

It’s been nearly five months since 38-year-old Crystal Uptain’s body was found dumped in the desert near Butterfield Station Landfill in unincorporated Maricopa, on 99th Avenue near State Route 238. 

Uptain’s body was found in a state of “severe decomposing” with a possible bullet hole in her left arm, according to a Feb. 29 Maricopa Police Department report obtained by InMaricopa this morning. 

Her death was quickly ruled a homicide. 

Investigators were only able to make a positive ID when they found Uptain’s name printed on a medical bracelet still clinging to her decomposed hand. The emergency contact on the bracelet, boyfriend Bruce Hogan, is now the only suspect named in her murder, according to the new 11-page report. 

Hogan waited nine days after Uptain disappeared to report her missing from the couple’s Grantham Road home in Homestead, the report states. It was just two hours after Uptain’s grandmother, Patricia Morales, filed a missing person report when he finally dialed 9-1-1. 

He told cops he didn’t report his girlfriend’s disappearance sooner because he knew she had a warrant out for her arrest. Court records show Uptain, who worked at Fry’s Marketplace on John Wayne Parkway, was arrested in August for lying to police and a bench warrant was issued when she failed to show up for court in October. 

Hogan told police Nov. 25 a lover’s quarrel about a week and a half earlier led Uptain to leave the house because “he needed some space.” He said he was fast asleep at 5 p.m. when she left. 

During the initial welfare check, he told the cops his girlfriend left in a tan 2004 Toyota Camry he owned but only she had the keys to. But later that same day, he called Officer Nigel Bell at the Maricopa Police Station and “informed that he lied to me about Crystal’s vehicle,” Bell said. 

Hogan confessed he left the car at a junkyard Nov. 22. When asked, he said he didn’t know which junkyard. 

Investigators discovered there was no such Camry registered to Hogan or Uptain. Hogan could not recall a VIN or license plate number. 

Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at Hogan’s Grantham Road home Dec. 11. InMaricopa has requested a copy of that report, although MCSO Sgt. Monica Bretado told us Monday the search yielded “no updates at this time.” 

When InMaricopa broke the murder story in December, we reported MCSO found “some suspicious circumstances involving the scene” where investigators believe Uptain’s body was dragged to a concealed area. 

We now know Uptain was barefoot with her pants removed, and her face was severely decomposed with “a lot of insect activity.” Surveyors working on a new dump site for Waste Management stumbled across her body and immediately called 9-1-1. 

In her initial call to the police for a welfare check, Morales said she believed Hogan harmed her granddaughter. 

A teary-eyed Morales said in a Dec. 11 conversation with MPD Officer Irene McCorry she “feels in her heart that Bruce [Hogan] killed her [Uptain]” and that Uptain “was probably dead in the desert.” 

Morales said a month prior, Uptain called her crying after her boyfriend hit her. She said Hogan owned guns and would frequent a desert area to go shooting but didn’t specify where. 

The victim’s brother, Robert Uptain, also lived at that Grantham Road home with his sister and Hogan. While police identified him as an investigative lead, he wasn’t home during the welfare check and the police report doesn’t indicate he was interviewed. He never reported his sister missing. 

Hogan mentioned “drug issues” when he reported Uptain missing Nov. 25, according to MPD. She doesn’t have any drug-related charges on her record, a search of court records reveals. When the story of Uptain’s murder made national headlines in December and friends and family spoke publicly about her, Hogan declined any interviews with reporters. 

No other suspects have been named, according to MCSO. 

Hogan has not been charged with any crime. All people are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.