Advances in science made it possible for authorities to identify skeletal remains nearly 50 years after they were first discovered in Florida, leading to new questions in a long-running cold case.
In a Tuesday (February 10) statement, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the remains had been positively identified as belonging to Patricia Ann Ritchie, also known as Patsy Falls Ritchie, a Harrisonburg, Va. woman who is believed to have gone missing in 1977.
The positive identification answers a question that has eluded authorities since the remains were discovered on January 18, 1978 “in a wooded area in unincorporated Boca Raton.”…