Regina Hess was 74 when her remains were found in 2023, but investigators still do not know how she died.
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. — Skeletal remains found by a landscape nursery employee in a wooded area more than three years ago have been identified as Regina Hess, a woman who had been separated from her family for decades, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
The identification gives investigators an answer to a question that had remained unresolved since May 11, 2023, when the remains were found near the 8000 block of South Military Trail in unincorporated Boynton Beach. Hess was born Aug. 22, 1948, and was about 74 when the remains were discovered. Authorities still have not determined her cause of death and are working to reconstruct her life in the years before she died.
The nursery employee was working on property next to the wooded area when the remains were discovered. Investigators believed they had been at the location for an extended period. The Palm Beach County Office of the Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy, but the examination did not establish a cause of death. Clothing recovered with the remains included a gray tank top and black pants.
Staff and students from Florida Gulf Coast University’s Human Identity and Trauma Analysis Program helped recover and examine the remains. Their initial analysis indicated the person was a white adult woman, estimated to be between 40 and 70 years old and roughly 5 feet to 5 feet 4 inches tall. Investigators later learned Hess was 4 feet 11 inches tall and older than the original estimated age range when the remains were found.
Investigators first tried more traditional DNA methods. In April 2024, Bode Technology developed a partial DNA profile from the remains. The profile was entered into the Combined DNA Index System, the national DNA database commonly known as CODIS, but authorities did not receive a match that could identify the woman.
The sheriff’s Forensic Imaging Unit then created a facial reconstruction showing how the unidentified woman might have appeared while alive. The reconstruction was released publicly in August 2024 in hopes that someone would recognize her. That effort also failed to produce an identification, leaving investigators without a name more than a year after the remains were found.
The investigation changed direction in 2025 when the sheriff’s Cold Case Unit partnered with Othram, a forensic DNA laboratory in The Woodlands, Texas. Scientists developed a more detailed DNA profile from evidence submitted by investigators. That profile allowed forensic genetic genealogy researchers to search for possible relatives and use family-tree research to develop new leads rather than relying on a direct match from a traditional law enforcement DNA database.
Othram provided potential family leads in April 2026, and additional research by the sheriff’s Forensic Biology Genetic Genealogy Unit eventually pointed investigators toward Hess. Authorities said genealogical work traced parts of the family line back to the 1890s as investigators worked to establish her identity.
Investigators sought another layer of confirmation in July, when Bode Technology conducted a kinship analysis involving DNA connected to a person believed to be Hess’s deceased sister. Results were issued Aug. 18. The sheriff’s office said the kinship findings, genetic genealogy research and other investigative work together resulted in a positive identification.
Hess’s next of kin, a first cousin, was notified after the identification. Investigators learned that Hess had been estranged from relatives for many years. Family members told authorities they had last spoken with her about 10 to 12 years earlier and had not seen her in more than 50 years. Authorities have not released a photograph of Hess, leaving investigators with significant gaps in the record of where she lived, whom she knew and how she spent the final years of her life.
Identifying Hess has not answered the central questions surrounding her death. Authorities have not announced when she died or publicly identified anyone as a suspect in connection with the case. The cause of death remains undetermined, and the sheriff’s Cold Case Unit continues seeking information about Hess’s life before her death and the circumstances that led to her remains being found near South Military Trail.
Author note: Last updated September 21, 2026.