PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Investigators have identified partially buried skeletal remains discovered in southern Palm Beach County nearly five decades ago.
According to a statement released Tuesday by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, the remains were found by construction workers in a wooded area near Boca Raton on Jan. 18, 1978.
Deputies, along with the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner, responded to the scene and collected the unidentified remains, which was ruled a homicide.
Anthropologists examined the remains and determined that they were those of a white woman estimated to be between 17-29 years old. Through the years, the sheriff's office said that efforts to identify the woman were unsuccessful.
Then, in July 2024, Othram, a private laboratory that works on cold cases, began work on identifying the remains.
In August 2025, the sheriff's office said Othram provided Palm Beach County detectives with leads their lab derived from genealogical research.
In September 2025, detectives traveled to investigate leads provided by Othram to collect reference samples from relatives of the victim.
On December 2, 2025, the sheriff's office said the remains were identified as Patricia Ann Ritchie, who was born on Dec. 3, 1953, in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Investigators believe Ritchie was last seen in 1977 near Harrisonburg, Virginia, at a truck stop, but it is unknown when and with whom Ritchie traveled to Florida before her death. However, she was last spotted getting into a truck with an unknown person.
The investigation revealed that she left the Harrisonburg area in either 1976 or 1977 and was 23-24 years old at the time of her disappearance.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office is seeking information from anyone who may have known or encountered Ritchie in the years before her death. Call Crime Stoppers at 1 (800) 458-TIPS or Investigator William Springer at (561) 688-4013 if you can help in the case.
A $3,000 award is being offered in the case.
