Latest news with #JudyDoe
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Yahoo
Dead teen ID'd in Lake cold case — 40 years after family mistakenly ID'd another body
A body has finally been identified as a missing Central Florida 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 was identified as Rebecca Sue Hill, the agency announced Wednesday in a news release. The sheriff's office said it plans to continue investigating her disappearance and death — which it views as a suspected homicide. 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. Lawsuit: Family of Spectrum News 13 reporter killed in 2023 shooting accuses TV station of negligence The sheriff's office said Hill was reported missing from Arkansas sometime in 1981, making her 16 or 17 at the time of her disappearance. But Hill hadn't been part of a missing persons database for nearly that entire time because a family member mistakenly identified a body found in Little Rock, Arkansas, as her in 1981 or 1982. The agency is currently looking into three other cases using forensic genetic genealogy. The first is 'Julie Doe' who was located in Clermont in September 1988 and being investigated in conjunction with the DNA Doe Project. The second is 'Jane Doe' who was located in Sorrento in December 1991 and being investigated with Othram. The third is a sexual battery suspect from 2007 being worked with help of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Parabon Nanolabs.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Yahoo
Suspected Serial Killer named 'Person of Interest' in 40-year-old Lake County murder case
A break in a 40-year-old murder case is finally giving one family a chance for closure. Lake County detectives said they found a body known as 'Judy Doe' off a dirt road in Altoona back in the 1980s. For years, the case remained cold, but in December, new DNA technology helped identify the victim as Arkansas teenager Rebecca Sue Hill. According to the Lake County Sheriff's Office, Hill went missing in 1981, but wasn't in any national missing persons databases. Detectives said that's because family members had misidentified her when another body turned up in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1981 or 1982 shortly after Rebecca disappeared. The Lake County Sheriff's Office said since 1984, multiple efforts were made to identify the remains of Judy Doe based off of skeletal recreations, dental records, and DNA. All of these efforts were unsuccessful. Read: Ocala Police use deadly force on three aggressive dogs Then, in November of 2023, the Lake County Sheriff's Office contracted Othram, Inc., a private laboratory that specializes in Forensic Genetic Genealogy, in an attempt to provide new leads or information. With cooperation of Rebecca's family, they were able to positively identify Rebecca Hill via that technology in December, 2024. 'It's very difficult when we don't know who the person is. Now that we know who she is, we're able to go back through this case and figure out, what do we now know,' said Lake County Detective Zachary Williams. 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. Read: 'Mob mentality beatdown' : Volusia Sheriff condemns party turned violent 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. 'All of these things circumstantially are pointing us back towards him,' said Williams. For Rebecca's surviving brother and sister, the break in the case has stirred up mixed emotions, since they believed Rebecca had been found years ago. In an exclusive interview with Channel 9, Rebecca's brother Eddie said he was extremely grateful to Lake County detectives, and believed there could soon be answers to unresolved questions including who murdered Rebecca, and how she ended up in Lake County. 'After 40 years we never thought we'd ever find out what happened to her,' said Eddie Hill, 'We're very hopeful we'll get some answers.' Read: Trump White House rescinds order freezing federal grants after widespread confusion Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
