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

[HmmMysterious]

Here's a bit more information about the body mistakenly identified as Rebecca back home in Arkansas. Her father identified it as hers, but her siblings at the time strongly disagreed.

Lake County body identified after 40 years as Arkansas teenager

 

[victoriarobinson642]

Here's a bit more information about the body mistakenly identified as Rebecca back home in Arkansas. Her father identified it as hers, but her siblings at the time strongly disagreed.

Lake County body identified after 40 years as Arkansas teenager

He doesn't know what brought his sister to Lake County or even to the state.

"We don't know how she got to Florida; we don't know when she got to Florida or anything like that. We don't know why," Hill said.

 

[johnnyhands]

I wasn't able to find online comments from Arkansas authorities regarding the case of the misidentified (now unidentified) remains. I did send an email to the Little Rock PD (and cc'ing some local TV News stations there) asking if they were reopening the case. If they get back to me, I'll let you know.

Has anyone seen any comments from Arkansas authorities on this?

 

[imstilla.grandma]

After multiple detectives and repeated efforts to identify Hill’s remains (designated as “Judy Doe”) based off skeletal re-creations, dental records and DNA, the breakthrough in the decades-long cold case came after the agency partnered with private laboratory Othram, the news release said.

Othram specializes in forensic genetic genealogy and spent over a year working through the genealogy of “Judy Doe,” according to the news release. Detectives contacted several potential family members identified by Othram to gather more information and samples for further genealogical testing. Eventually they got a sample from a suspected close relative who turned out to be her sister

Dead teen ID’d in Lake cold case — 40 years after family mistakenly ID’d another body

A body found in Central Florida has finally been identified as a missing Arkansas teenager — over 40 years after her family mistakenly identified another body as her, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. In December, a body found in April 1984 off a dirt road near Lake Dorr in Altoona...

www.yahoo.com

In November 2023, the LCSO contacted Othram Inc., a private forensics lab, in an attempt to provide new leads and information.

In November 2024, detectives contacted a suspected close relative of Judy Doe. The family member’s cooperation led to them submitting DNA for comparison, which was sent to Othram, Inc., for analysis.

In December 2024, Othram Inc. verified that Judy Doe was the sister of the family member who submitted their DNA and that her real name was Rebecca Sue Hill.

Victim in 1984 Lake County cold case has been identified

Identified previously as “Judy Doe” the victim’s body was located off a dirt road near Lake Dorr in Altoona on April 18, 1984.

www.wftv.com

Williams said suspected serial killer and convicted murderer; Michael Ronning is now a person of interest in Rebecca’s murder.

Ronning died while serving a life sentence in 2022, but detectives had started investigating Ronning in the early 2000s in connection to then Judy Doe’s death.

According to Williams, Ronning was living in Lake County and was actually pulled over by Umatilla police just one day before Rebecca was found stabbed in the woods.

Investigators said Ronning left Lake County, within ten days of Rebecca’s murder and allegedly implied during a Dateline interview he knew something about the “Judy Doe” found in Altoona.

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

For years, the case remained cold, but in December, new DNA technology helped identify the victim as Arkansas teenager Rebecca Sue Hill.

www.wftv.com

 

[HopeRains]

Oh man. Who didn't look for this little girl who was near the campground wearing a shirt that said "have you kissed your child tonight?" I remember her case. I looked at her casefile on DoeNetwork; I remembered not being so fond of some of the recons. This clay recon of her is most representative of the available photo of her, I believe. RIH Rebecca; so grateful your siblings have some truth.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Shortly after the Hill identification was made public, LCSO Detective Zachary Williams discussed the case with the media and identified Michael Ronning, a convicted killer who died in prison in 2022, as a person of interest, according to WESH and WFTV

Lake County Sheriff's Office identifies woman's remains after 40 years

The victim had been missing from Arkansas since 1981. She was 16 or 17 at the time she disappeared.

www.dailycommercial.com

 

[imstilla.grandma]

In December 2024, Othram verified that Judy Doe was the sister of the family member and that Judy Doe’s real name is Rebecca Sue Hill. Detectives have been able to establish that Hill has been missing from Arkansas since sometime in 1981, which would make her 16 or 17 years old at the time of her disappearance. Hill was not in any database as "missing" due to remains being found in Little Rock, Arizona that were misidentified as Hill by a family member sometime in 1981 or 1982.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office currently has three other cases in the genetic genealogy process. The first is “Julie Doe,” who was located in Clermont on Sept. 25, 1988, and is being investigated in conjunction with the DNA Doe Project. The second is “Jane Doe," who was located in Sorrento on Dec. 7, 1991, and is being investigated with Othram. The third is a sexual battery suspect from 2007, which is being worked with the help of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Parabon Nanolabs.

Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter - Genealogy Restores 'Judy Doe's' Name in 1984 Cold Case

 

[MadMcGoo]

I wonder if these could be the remains that were misidentified. I can't find anything in newspaper articles about them being IDd as Rebecca's, but they are the only ones I've been able to find that were discovered in Little Rock around that time. If these are the remains, they've since been positively identified. ETA: She, IMO, does somewhat resemble Rebecca.

Ronald Carden - National Registry of Exonerations Pre 1989

www.law.umich.edu

 

[LucyOso]

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?

BBM. I wonder this as well. I also wonder how many Jane and John Does out there were incorrectly identified decades ago...

 

[johnnyhands]

Thanks for that article, MadMcGoo. I’m still trying to figure out who’s who in it (will get back to you when I do.) I did stumble on to this Arkansas newspaper site that has an article written recently - with more info from family members about Ms. Hill.

Here’s a partial copy-and-paste from it regarding the misidentification from family members:
-----
"The detective told Edwin "that they found a girl's body in a farmer's field there in Little Rock somewhere and they wanted us to come and identify."

Hill, Edwin and Delores went to the law enforcement agency and were presented with a clay recreation of a female skull, along with clothes that had been found with the body.

"It kind of looked like me," Hill said. "Me and (Rebecca), when we were kids, we would pass as twins."

The detective asked Edwin if the skull was Rebecca's.

"My dad did not identify her," Hill said. "He said it looked like her. ... So we talked to the detective a little bit and everything, and we went home. Needless to say, nothing had been said anymore to us about it. We figured it was still under investigation."

Later, Strickland would recall her father showing off a newspaper clipping. It contained a photo of the clay reconstruction.

"I didn't think it was her. It didn't look like her at all," Strickland said. "I kept telling Dad that that was not Becky, and he insisted that it looks just like her. I'm like, 'No, it does not.’"

It took almost 45 years for Hill and Strickland to find out two things.

That the clay reconstruction was not that of Rebecca -- and searches by local law enforcement agencies haven't yet found any cases similar to what Hill described -- and that they had been looking for Rebecca in the wrong place.
--------

So, it seems like Rebecca’s father's newspaper clipping of the clay reconstruction may be the only evidence of the formerly-misidentified, now-unidentified-decedent. I’m thinking it must have been a local Little Rock newspaper the clipping came from. Does the family still have the clipping (assuming the father has passed on?)

The article doesn’t mention doing any digging to find that clipping/article, or bring up the question of who it might be. Note you have not one, but two family members who remember seeing the clipping photo.

Sorry, I don’t currently have a sub to any newspaper archive sites.

DNA brings Florida murder victim back to her Arkansas family 40 years later | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

"Who was Judy Doe?" That question had haunted sheriff's investigators in Lake County, Fla., since a body was discovered there in 1984. The answer, officials announced on Jan. 29, was Rebecca Sue Hill, a teenage girl who had vanished from Arkansas some 40 years ago.

www.arkansasonline.com

 

[summergirl1]

That's likely the most informative and best article I've read on the case. I'm glad you posted it.

 

[HmmMysterious]

Thanks for that article, MadMcGoo. I’m still trying to figure out who’s who in it (will get back to you when I do.) I did stumble on to this Arkansas newspaper site that has an article written recently - with more info from family members about Ms. Hill.

Here’s a partial copy-and-paste from it regarding the misidentification from family members:
-----
"The detective told Edwin "that they found a girl's body in a farmer's field there in Little Rock somewhere and they wanted us to come and identify."

Hill, Edwin and Delores went to the law enforcement agency and were presented with a clay recreation of a female skull, along with clothes that had been found with the body.

"It kind of looked like me," Hill said. "Me and (Rebecca), when we were kids, we would pass as twins."

The detective asked Edwin if the skull was Rebecca's.

"My dad did not identify her," Hill said. "He said it looked like her. ... So we talked to the detective a little bit and everything, and we went home. Needless to say, nothing had been said anymore to us about it. We figured it was still under investigation."

Later, Strickland would recall her father showing off a newspaper clipping. It contained a photo of the clay reconstruction.

"I didn't think it was her. It didn't look like her at all," Strickland said. "I kept telling Dad that that was not Becky, and he insisted that it looks just like her. I'm like, 'No, it does not.’"

It took almost 45 years for Hill and Strickland to find out two things.

That the clay reconstruction was not that of Rebecca -- and searches by local law enforcement agencies haven't yet found any cases similar to what Hill described -- and that they had been looking for Rebecca in the wrong place.
--------

So, it seems like Rebecca’s father's newspaper clipping of the clay reconstruction may be the only evidence of the formerly-misidentified, now-unidentified-decedent. I’m thinking it must have been a local Little Rock newspaper the clipping came from. Does the family still have the clipping (assuming the father has passed on?)

The article doesn’t mention doing any digging to find that clipping/article, or bring up the question of who it might be. Note you have not one, but two family members who remember seeing the clipping photo.

Sorry, I don’t currently have a sub to any newspaper archive sites.

DNA brings Florida murder victim back to her Arkansas family 40 years later | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

"Who was Judy Doe?" That question had haunted sheriff's investigators in Lake County, Fla., since a body was discovered there in 1984. The answer, officials announced on Jan. 29, was Rebecca Sue Hill, a teenage girl who had vanished from Arkansas some 40 years ago.

www.arkansasonline.com

Very depressing read. Rebecca's life was pure horror from start to finish. She and her siblings would get smacked or whipped for anything such as forgetting to do chores. Rebecca's stepmother was described as intimidating and mean to her. Her sister said that she suffered from high fevers which made her "slow" and willing to trust anyone. And probably the most unsettling part - Rebecca was found at a truck stop in El Paso, Arkansas in the summer of 1981 where she was being prostituted. She went missing around Christmas of that year.

 

[summergirl1]

Those kinds of family issues and even worse issues-family issues in general- are the background of more than a few John/Jane Doe cases. It's not just her case, unfortunately. Sometimes that kind of stuff was approached or seen differently "back in the day", and I'm sure it can be hard for family members whose missing family member has been identified to describe to the media or even talk about the background to their long missing family member's story. But it's very helpful to those who follow Doe cases when they do, because then we understand the background and more of the newly identified Doe's story. I can see why some families of identified Does are more private, though (even when the backstory isn't that bad). Just some thoughts about that..

 

[Dogwithabone]

From this newspaper, here is what we should search for when looking for archives about the now-unidentified remains:

• Date of Discovery: Circa 1981
• Location: Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas

The remains were found in a farmer's field. The body was clothed, and a clay reconstruction of the face is included in the newspaper. The remains were possibly identified as Becky's sometime after the summer of 1981.

 

[summergirl1]

The other news stories made the prior identification sound more official than it was. I thought her family had probably gotten the remains of the other Jane Doe, whoever she was, and had then had her buried or cremated.

 

[MarziPanda]

With her being previously prostituted and being the kind of girl who trusted everyone (plus possibly having a mental delay and being abused, which can lead to teens searching for affection from the wrong people) it sounds like she could have been trafficked.

 

[MagicCityMan]

Interestingly, suspect Michael Ronning did end up imprisoned in Arkansas for a 1986 murder. If he had ties to Arkansas prior to then, that would really make him a strong suspect in this case. He could have taken Miss Hill down here from Arkansas for God only knows what reason and then killed her.

 

[songbrd]