The skeletal remains of Robin Fay Hedrick were discovered in a creek bed near Healdsburg on Aug. 9, 1993. Sonoma County Sheriff's investigators only recently learned the Vallejo woman's identity with the help of modern technology and assistance from the Sebastopol-based nonprofit DNA Doe Project. (Sonoma County Sheriff's Office/Facebook)
A Jane Doe whose remains were found near Healdsburg over 30 years ago has finally been identified through DNA and now law enforcement is hoping to solve her suspicious death, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office said.
On Aug. 9, 1993, the skeletal remains of a woman were discovered in a creek bed off Pine Flat Road near Healdsburg. Her identity and the circumstances around her death were a mystery, the Sheriff’s Office said.
In 2022, the Sonoma County Coroner’s Bureau submitted the woman’s DNA to the Sebastopol-based genetic technology nonprofit DNA Doe Project. The organization was able to identify a potential relative of the woman, and then matched her son’s DNA with her own. She is now identified as Robin Fay Hedrick.
Some of the solved cold cases DNA Doe Project has worked on are documented on its website. The Sebastopol-based organization, co-founded in 2017 by software developer Margaret Press and forensic genealogist Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick, assists law enforcement agencies from throughout the country. (Screenshot via dnadoeproject.org)
Hedrick was born in 1953 and lived in Vallejo. The Sheriff’s Office said little is known about her, except that she was last seen in February 1992 in Vallejo.
Now law enforcement is hoping someone out there will know more about Hedrick, in hopes of providing answers about her suspicious death. Anyone who may have information helpful to this case should contact the sheriff’s cold case unit or phone 707-565-2727.
Katy St. Clair got her start in journalism by working in the classifieds department at the East Bay Express during the height of alt weeklies, then sweet talked her way into becoming staff writer, submissions editor, and music editor. She has been a columnist in the East Bay Express, SF Weekly, and the San Francisco Examiner. Starting in 2015, she begrudgingly scaled the inverted pyramid at dailies such as the Vallejo Times-Herald, The Vacaville Reporter, and the Daily Republic. She has her own independent news site and blog that covers the delightfully dysfunctional town of Vallejo, California, where she also collaborates with the investigative team at Open Vallejo. A passionate advocate for people with developmental disabilities, she serves on both the Board of the Arc of Solano and the Arc of California. She lives in Vallejo.
