On April 18, 1984, an unidentified white female was located off a dirt road near Lake Dorr in Altoona, Florida. It was determined that the remains were that of a female between 17 and 20 years old, who stood 5’0” to 5’1” tall and weighed approximately 100 pounds. Upon investigation, it was estimated that the young woman had died several weeks prior to the discovery of her remains and her death was likely due to homicide. With no leads about her identity, the woman could not be identified and she became known as “Judy Doe.”

Multiple efforts were made to identify the remains based off of skeletal recreations, dental records, and DNA. A facial reconstruction was completed and released to the public in hopes that it would generate leads about Judy Doe’s true identity. All of these efforts were unsuccessful. 

In November 2023, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office contracted Othram in an attempt to provide new leads or information. Over a year was spent working through the genealogy of Judy Doe, and possible family members were identified. Detectives contacted these suspected family members in an attempt to gather information and obtain samples to further the genealogical testing.

In November 2024, detectives were able to make contact with a suspected close relative of Judy Doe. The cooperation of the family member led to them submitting DNA for comparison. This DNA was sent to Othram for analysis.

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. 

Detectives are continuing to investigate the circumstances of Hill's disappearance and death. Her death is a suspected homicide, and it’s the hope of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office to bring the investigation to a resolution.

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.

Republished courtesy of Lake County Sheriff's Office