Last seen at Virginia truck stop 50 years ago, missing woman’s remains identified in Florida

PALMBEACHCOUNTY,Fla.—ArewardforinformationisnowbeingofferedinthecaseofmissingVirginiawomanPatriciaAnnRitchie,whoseremainswerediscoveredinFloridanearly50yearsagoandrecentlyidentifiedusing“advancedForensicInvestigativeGeneticGenealogy,”accordingtothePalmBeachCountySheriff’sOffice. “ConstructionworkersdiscoveredpartiallyburiedskeletalremainsinawoodedareainunincorporatedBocaRaton[onJanuary18,1978],”thePalmBeachCountySheriff’sOfficewroteinastatementaboutthesituation.“Themannerofdeathwasruledahomicide.Anthropologistsexaminedtheremainsanddeterminedthattheremainswerethoseofawhitefemale.Shewasestimatedtobebetween17-29yearsofage.Throughtheyears,effortstoidentifyhermetwithnegativeresults.” ThatchangedinJuly2024whenthesheriff’sofficesaidaprivatelabdedicatedtosolvingpreviouslyunsolvablecasessteppedintohelp. “InAugust2025,OthramprovidedourColdCasede