After nearly three decades of mystery surrounding a set of skeletal remains found in Sonoma County, the woman once known only as Jane Doe has been identified, thanks to the marvels of DNA technology. In a breakthrough using genetic genealogy, the Sonoma Sheriff's Department has named Robin Fay Hedrick as the woman whose remains were discovered on August 9, 1993. The identification effort, a combined exercise involving the Sheriff's Coroner's Bureau and the DNA Doe Project, hinges heavily on a DNA match facilitated through a potential relative of Hedrick's that eventually led to the confirmation of her identity by comparing DNA with that of her son, according to a statement released by the Sheriff's Department.
The cold case, which had been unsolved for 31 years, began to unravel when the Coroner's Bureau decided to submit Jane Doe's DNA to the DNA Doe Project in 2022. The non-profit, dedicated to putting names to unidentified remains through genetic genealogy, worked through the DNA maze to finally pinpoint a relative of Hedrick's. This lead was the crucial puzzle piece needed to go on then to identify her conclusively remains. Hedrick, born in 1953 and a resident of Vallejo, CA, was last seen alive in February 1992. Little else is known about her life or the circumstances that led to her death, which remains shrouded in suspicion.
In the spirit of bringing closure to families and justice for the deceased, the Sonoma Sheriff's Department is reaching out to the public for any information related to Robin Hedrick's life or death. They have urged that anyone with information contact their Cold Case Unit. The release by the Sheriff's Department suggests a community that remembers together heals together, expressing pride in their partnership with the DNA Doe Project. "We are proud to partner with the DNA Doe Project to help identify remains after investigative leads have gone cold," the Sheriff's Department disclosed in the release.
Since its inception in 2017, the Sebastopol-based DNA Doe Project has played a pivotal role in breathing life back into cold cases nationwide, having identified hundreds of individuals. The Sheriff's Department and the DNA Doe Project continue to cooperate closely, not only in this case but in several others, steadfast in their shared goal of restoring identities and, in doing so, hopefully bringing some measure of peace to families in waiting.
