Cold Case Detectives ID Victim in 1978 Boca Raton Homicide

Patricia Ann Ritchie (Photo: PBSO)

A woman whose remains were found nearly 50 years ago in unincorporated Boca Raton has been identified thanks to breakthrough technology. Detectives are now hoping to find her killer despite the gargantuan time gap.

According to a statement issued Tuesday by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, construction workers in January 1978 discovered partially buried skeletal remains in a wooded area in unincorporated Boca Raton. The sheriff’s office and medical examiner remains, and the manner of death was ruled a homicide. The identity of the victim, a white female believed to be between the ages of 17 and 29, could not be identified.

“Through the years, efforts to identify her met with negative results,” said PBSO spokeswoman Theresa Barbera.

The case was never forgotten, notwithstanding its decades-long cold status, and in 2024, a private laboratory known as Othram dedicated to “breaking through impenetrable forensic DNA barriers” and previously unsolvable case began efforts to assist in identifying the woman. In August 2025, Othram provided PBSO cold case detectives with investigative leads derived from genealogical research. In September 2025, the detectives traveled out of state to investigate the leads provided by the lab, and to collect reference samples from relatives of the decedent.

Finally, in December 2025, detectives were finally able to ascertain the identity of the victim. Her name was Patricia Ann Ritchie, born Dec. 3, 1953 in Harrisonburg, Va. She was identified through “forensic investigative genetic genealogy,” Barbera said, a collaboration between Othram, the Cold Case Unit, and the county medical examiner’s office. She was either 23 or 24-years-old at the time of her death, investigators confirmed.

It is believed Ritchie was last seen in 1977 in Harrisonburg, Va., and to date, it is unknown exactly when and with whom she traveled to Florida before her death.

Now, decades later, detectives have begun outreach to find the perpetrator of the homicide. Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit detectives are seeking information from anyone who may have known or encountered Patricia Ritchie in the years preceding her death. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 800-458-TIPS or Investigator William Springer at 561-688-4013 with any information.