Authorities in Palm Beach County have identified human remains discovered in a wooded area near Boca Raton, Florida, in 1978—nearly 47 years ago.
Details About the Victim
Forensic testing identified the 47-year-old remains as those of Patricia Ann Ritchie, a woman originally from Harrisonburg, Virginia, who was in her early 20s at the time of her disappearance, according to The Palm Beach Post.
A group of construction workers originally found the skeletal remains on January 18, 1978, but—although investigators identified that the death was a homicide, and that the body belonged to a white woman between 17 and 29 years old, approximately 5 feet 4 inches in height—the victim went unidentified for decades.
How Ritchie’s Remains Were Eventually Identified
According to reporting from The Palm Beach Post, in July 2024, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office partnered with Othram—a Texas-based private laboratory specializing in advanced forensic DNA testing—to pursue forensic investigative genetic genealogy, which is a technique that uses a combination of DNA and traditional genealogical research to help identify unknown suspects or identify remains.
Over a year later, by August 2025, Othram’s genealogical research team produced several investigative leads that enabled detectives to travel to Virginia that September to interview potential relatives and collect further DNA reference samples…