UPDATE: Mason City man charged with murder after woman found dead during welfare check

MASON CITY — A Mason City man has been charged with first-degree murder after a woman was found dead during a welfare check last week.

According to the Mason City Police Department, officers were dispatched at about 10:38 a.m. June 6 to 628 3rd St. NE for a welfare check on a female. When officers arrived, they found 58-year-old Julie Ann Helfrich unresponsive. Medics determined Helfrich was deceased.

Police said that at about 11:14 a.m., officers conducted a traffic stop in the 400 block of 7th St. SW. The driver, 75-year-old Steven Stotts, who lives at 628 3rd St. NE, was detained as a person of interest.

Stotts was later charged with first-degree murder and taken to the Cerro Gordo County Jail, where police said he is being held on a $750,000 cash-only bond.

The investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Mason City Police Department at 641-421-3636.

Mason City Police are being assisted by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, DCI Criminalistics Laboratory, Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Office, Cerro Gordo County Attorney’s Office, Mason City Fire Department and the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner.