Remains found almost 50 years ago in Boca Raton belong to slain Virginia woman: PBSO

Remains found almost 50 years ago in Boca Raton have finally been identified as belonging to a Virginia woman, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff’s office said the breakthrough was made possible thanks to advancements in forensic investigative genetic genealogy and a private laboratory dedicated to unsolvable cases.

The partially buried skeletal remains of a woman named Patricia Ann Ritchie, or Patsy Falls Ritchie, were found by construction workers on Jan. 18, 1978 in a wooded area of unincorporated Boca Raton, authorities said.

The sheriff’s office and Palm Beach County Medical Examiner collected the remains and ruled that the manner of death was a homicide. Anthropologists determined that the victim was a white female between 17-29 years old, but her identity remained a mystery.

In July of 2024, the private laboratory Othram began assisting in efforts to identify the remains, and in August of 2025, provided cold case detectives with investigative leads.

Those detectives collected reference samples from relatives of the decedent until she was identified as Ritchie in December 2025.

Authorities said she was from Harrisonburg, Virginia, and was born on Dec. 3, 1953. She was married to Donnie Wayne Ritchie.

Ritchie was last seen in 1977 “at a truck stop in the Harrisonburg, VA area getting into a truck with an unknown person. Investigation revealed that she left the Harrisonburg area in either 1976 or 1977,” the sheriff’s office said.

At the time of her disappearance, she would have been 23-24 years old.

“It is unknown at this time exactly when and with whom Ritchie travelled to Florida before her death,” the sheriff’s office said.

Now, authorities are offering a $3,000 reward for information. They’re asking for anyone who may have known or encountered the victim in the years before her death to get in touch, either by calling Crime Stoppers at 1 (800) 458-TIPS or Investigator William Springer at (561) 688-4013.