Regina Rowe-Hicks' murder went unsolved for 24 years
Credit: ohioattorneygeneral.gov
NEED TO KNOW
- Regina Rowe-Hicks was 25 years old when she went missing and was later found in her car at the bottom of a pond in October 2001
- Her case went unsolved for over two decades before a podcaster and cold case team reinvestigated her death
- Regina’s estranged husband, Paul Hicks, was later arrested for her death in 2025
Twenty-five-year-old mom Regina Rowe-Hicks was found in her car at the bottom of a pond in 2001.
She was reported missing in Huron County, Ohio, after she failed to pick up her 4-year-old son from her estranged husband's friend's home. Four days later, Regina was found dead in the passenger seat of her car in a pond, according to the Ohio Attorney General's Office.
Shortly after her body was found, investigators determined that Regina had been killed because she suffered blunt force trauma to her head. Police initially spoke to her estranged husband, Paul Hicks, but there was never enough evidence to arrest him or any other suspect.
The trail went cold for over two decades before a cold case team from the Ohio Attorney General's Office Bureau of Criminal Investigation stepped in and reinvestigated the case. In 2025, Paul was arrested and charged with Regina's murder after his friend came forward and confessed that Paul had murdered Regina; the same friend later testified against him.
On Dec. 19, 2025, Paul was convicted on three counts of murder and one count of kidnapping. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison and is appealing the conviction while serving his sentence.
Regina's murder and the subsequent 24-year investigation was revisited in the 20/20 episode, "The Secret in the Water", which aired on May 1 at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.
Here's everything to know about Regina Rowe-Hicks' murder.
Who was Regina Rowe-Hicks?
Credit: ohioattorneygeneral.gov
Regina was born in 1976 and met Paul when she was in high school, her cousin Lisa Hersha said on 20/20. They went on to get married and welcomed son Montana, who was 4 years old in October 2001.
However, Hersha alleged that Regina and Paul's relationship was unhealthy, and they were separated by 2001. At the time, Regina was living with a new boyfriend.
"Before Paul, she was loud, happy, and more vocal. Paul made her more silent, more small," Hersha claimed.
The day after Regina was reported missing, Paul filed for divorce and sought full custody of Montana.
When did Regina disappear?
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On Oct. 18, 2001, Regina left her boyfriend's home around 8 p.m. to go pick up Montana from Paul's friend Steve Gates' home in Huron County. She was reported missing after she allegedly never showed up.
Four days after she went missing, her body was discovered in the passenger seat of her white Camaro in the bottom of a pond near Townline Road 12 and Section Line Road 30.
“Her estranged husband, Paul Hicks, called me and told me they think she's in the pond,” Regina's brother Chad Rowe recalled to News 5 Cleveland in October 2024.
Shortly after authorities located her body, they found three strikes with bruising on the top of her head and started treating the death as a homicide.
Police brought in Paul for questioning during which he alleged that Regina was unstable and suicidal, per the police interview played at trial, according to Cleveland 19 News. However, detective Dane Howard remembered that they had not found "any evidence" that supported Paul's claims.
While investigators recovered some DNA evidence from the crime scene, there was not enough to provide an official comparison.
"There was nothing to definitively link him to the crime. No admissions," Special Agent John Saraya said on 20/20. "It's a hard case."
As a result of the lack of evidence and eyewitnesses, Regina's case went unsolved for over two decades.
Regina's cousin Angela Rowe later told News 5 Cleveland that they were always suspicious of Paul.
“We knew it all along, we couldn't prove it, but we knew he did it,” Angela said.
How was Regina's case finally solved?
Credit: ohioattorneygeneral.gov
For years after Regina's death, her family continued to pour their hearts, time and money into trying to solve her murder.
Regina's mom, Lacella Holbrook, spent the following 10 years advocating for her daughter with billboards and newspaper ads that offered rewards up to $20,000 for information that led to her daughter's killer.
"She went to thousands of cases at the courthouse and got to know a lot of different people," Chad told News 5 Cleveland. "She lost a lot of sleep and lot of energy from it. Eventually, it emotionally and physically killed her. My mom ended up getting cancer and passing away, and then the case just kind of went to the wayside."
However, the tides turned in the summer of 2024 when local community activist and podcaster Ashli Ford dedicated several episodes of her podcast, Allegedly, to investigating Regina's death.
“I wanted to see if we could get some attention to a cold case that definitely deserves justice,” Ford told News 5 Cleveland. "Reading through the mom's notes is so hard because I'm a mom, and she tried so hard getting justice. To know that she died, never getting justice and she worked so hard, and she was so close. I started where she stopped, and I mean, it's almost there."
Ford's podcast got the attention of a cold case team from the Ohio Attorney General's Office Bureau of Criminal Investigation who took a second look at the case.
What happened to Regina?
Credit: ohioattorneygeneral.gov
Shortly after the cold case team got involved, they re-interviewed Gates. Unlike his first police interview, Gates changed his story and alleged that Paul killed his estranged wife.
In exchange for immunity, Gates alleged — and later testified — that Paul and Regina got into an argument on the night of Oct. 18 when she came to Gates' home to pick up Montana.
Gates claimed that Paul knocked Regina unconscious and later placed her in the passenger seat of her car before he drove the vehicle into a pond and jumped out. Gates further accused Paul of being physically abusive to Regina before her death.
Where is Paul Hicks now?
Credit: court tv
Paul was arrested in April 2025 and charged with Regina's murder and kidnapping.
“You can't accidentally get somebody, stuff them in the car and in the passenger seat, drive them down the road and then into a pond and then drown that person. That's not accidental, that's intention,” Huron County Prosecutor James Sitterly said during the trial, per News 5 Cleveland.
He added as a motive, “The defendant is looking at a situation he could be paying child support while being laid off and he had to limit his financial exposure as well as get full custody."
Meanwhile, the defense argued that Gates was an unreliable witness and the only piece of evidence linking Paul to the crime.
On Dec. 19, 2025, Paul was found guilty of three counts of murder and one count of kidnapping. The following month, he was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
“Today a killer is held accountable, although 24 years after the crime, it's a stark reminder that truth has no expiration date,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced at the time. “Prison bars will now restrain the evil that stole Regina from her loved ones.”
Paul is currently serving his sentence at an Ohio county prison, while also appealing his conviction, per 20/20.
"We lost so much sleep over this, and it feels like we can finally breathe again. We are just overwhelmed and feeling so much joy, because we have been waiting for this moment for 24-years,” Angela told News 5 Cleveland.
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