Identified! FL - Altoona, WhtFem Skeletal 126UFFL, 17-20, near Lake Dorr, Apr'84 - Rebecca Sue Hill

[Vee97]

Do we have an updated exclusion list ?

 

[Caring1]

Do we have an updated exclusion list ?

Same 11 listed. Here are the photos.

 

[iulia]

Her NamUs page has been removed.

 

[Vee97]

Her NamUs page has been removed.

What does that mean ? Did she end up being identified ?

 

[iulia]

What does that mean ? Did she end up being identified ?

Most likely she's been identified. We can't know for sure until there is an official announcement, though. Her profile can be reinstated but that rarely happens, fortunately.

 

[Vee97]

Most likely she's been identified. We can't know for sure until there is an official announcement, though. Her profile can be reinstated but that rarely happens, fortunately.

Oh wow that is potentially exciting then ! Please keep us updated if you find out more

 

[iulia]

Oh wow that is potentially exciting then ! Please keep us updated if you find out more

Will certainly do. Meanwhile Doe Network has also marked her as identified, so fingers crossed!

Located & Identified Persons

126UFFL discovered on April 18, 1984 in Altoona, Florida has been identified per NamUs. No further information is available.

 

[Mrs. Badcrumble]

Identified as Rebecca Sue Hill, who has been missing from Arkansas since 1981, which would make her 16 or 17 years old at the time of her disappearance.

In 1981 or 1982, the remains of an unidentified individual were found in Little Rock, Arkansas. At that time, Rebecca’s family misidentified those remains as belonging to Rebecca, and therefore Rebecca was not listed in any missing persons database.

After 40 years, Judy Doe (1984) is now Identified

Lake County Sheriff’s Office Teams with Othram to Identify a 1984 Homicide Victim

dnasolves.com

Does this mean there’s a set of remains in Arkansas that’s unaccounted for, so to speak? Back to being a Jane Doe?

 

[MarziPanda]

Gosh... I've wondered in the past how often this has happened, that (in the days before DNA especially) unidentified bodies were misidentified. It seems so easily done. I really hope Rebecca's family didn't have 'her' body cremated (not their fault though if they did, they weren't to know) and that the other body can also be identified. If not-Rebecca was buried, hopefully the family gives permission for her to be exhumed so they can test that body.

Curious - Judy Doe, who turned out to be Rebecca, was thought to have died only weeks before. Rebecca went missing three years before this Doe supposedly died. Does that mean Rebecca likely knew her family had identified another body as her, and she didn't come forward? Or could it be that Rebecca was kidnapped and held for years before being killed? It doesn't seem feasible that they could get the time frame of death so far off especially somewhere hot and humid like Florida where decomp happens fast.

 

[victoriarobinson642]

What a mess. I can only imagine how her family feel right now. And I’d be surprised if she was the only one this happened to.

 

[HmmMysterious]

I didn't expect this case to be this bizarre. It turns out the Jane Doe's name wasn't Judy nor did she come from California. It's wild that Rebecca was still alive (based on the PMI) when her family misidentified remains found in Arkansas. IMO, she just ran off and didn't know her family reported her as deceased.

Rest in peace Rebecca.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Wow. Plot twist. Sure reeks of trafficking. However, if she willingly left, was hitchhiking and was picked up, that would make sense to go from AR to FL. There’s major interstates to make it a pretty easy route. I wonder if her family will release any additional details regarding why she left, disappeared or was possibly taken.

 

[HmmMysterious]

A comparison of Rebecca and her NCMEC composite.

 

[iulia]

Link to Lake County Sheriff’s Office FB post:

https://www.facebook.com/LakeCountySO/posts/pfbid0358nEu7oH281vJDfQEZMoh1wqjEMYXy7DUC5GsmTX7msPePicFyDD1ZkNwhiojq14l

 

[azure]

I didn't expect this case to be this bizarre. It turns out the Jane Doe's name wasn't Judy nor did she come from California. It's wild that Rebecca was still alive (based on the PMI) when her family misidentified remains found in Arkansas. IMO, she just ran off and didn't know her family reported her as deceased.

Rest in peace Rebecca.

I guess given the PMI, Rebecca could have gone to California first, then Florida.

 

[DS2021]

 

[DS2021]

126UFFL

 

[DS2021]

At that time, Rebecca’s family misidentified those remains as belonging to Rebecca

Does that mean the family just assumed they were hers?

 

[HmmMysterious]

Deceased serial killer, Michael Ronning, is a POI in Rebecca's case. He lived in Lake County and was actually pulled over in Umatilla just one day before Rebecca was found stabbed in the woods. Ronning left Altoona ten days after she was found and implied in a Dateline interview that he knew what happened to her.

Suspected Serial Killer named “Person of Interest” in 40-year-old Lake County murder case

 

[PayrollNerd]

Deceased serial killer, Michael Ronning, is a POI in Rebecca's case. He lived in Lake County and was actually pulled over in Umatilla just one day before Rebecca was found stabbed in the woods. Ronning left Altoona ten days after she was found and implied in a Dateline interview that he knew what happened to her.

Suspected Serial Killer named “Person of Interest” in 40-year-old Lake County murder case

I wonder if the surviving siblings (brother & sister) were old enough at the time to understand the circumstances of her leaving home.

Ronning was local to Lake County. So how did Rebecca get to Lake County? Who was involved in that? She was a teenager and didn't likely have a vehicle. Did she hitch a ride and from someone, then cross paths with him? What an emotional upheaval for the entire family. I hope LE can give them answers.