Regina Mae Armstrong

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Orlando Police Department (FL)

Offense Location:

Orlando, Florida

Summary:

Regina disappeared from Orlando, Florida during the summer of 1985. She was abducted by an unidentified man while she was playing near her babysitter’s home. She remained missing for over two years until her skeletal remains were discovered at a construction site. Sadly, her abduction and murder remain unsolved.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Offense:

Regina was last seen in Orlando, Florida on June 18th 1985. Her father dropped the girl and her younger sister, Christina off at their babysitter’s apartment in the Semoran Terrace Apartment complex located on Semoran Boulevard. Both the babysitter and her child were home at the time. The three children had lunch and then went outside to play in the courtyard. At 12:00 pm, a man approached the children as they were playing and began talking to them. He offered Regina and the other child $2 to stand watch at a nearby apartment which he claimed belonged to him and his wife. He told them he was taking Regina to pick up his grandchildren and promised to be back within thirty minutes. When the man never returned, the children realized Regina was likely in danger and went to tell the babysitter about the abduction. The babysitter initially believed they were lying and didn’t do anything to locate the girl for two hours. Extensive searches took place all across Orlando for Regina and leads regarding her whereabouts were tracked all over the country. Regina’s abductor was described as a white male aged between 25 and 40. He stood at 6’0” and was said have a medium build. The suspect had curly dark colored hair. His upper lip had been split as if he had recently been in a fight was and he missing two of his teeth in one side of his mouth. The man had a tattoo on his left forearm. The suspect was wearing a plaid shirt, faded jeans, and a gold watch with Roman numerals. The case was highly publicized in the news and Regina’s photo appeared on milk cartons. Her parents appealed for her safe return but none of the efforts led to any serious leads in the case. Police believe that Regina’s case was connected to two other kidnappings that occurred before her disappearance. A week before she was taken, a man broke into a house in Cocoa Beach where he attempted to abduct a seven year old girl from her bedroom she shared with her older sister. The older girl woke up and screamed which foiled the abduction attempted. He left through the window and fled the scene. In another case, a nine year old girl who was walking home from school on June 7th 1985 was abducted by an unidentified man. He raped her before abandoning her in St. Augustine, Florida. The suspect descriptions for the two kidnapping cases and Regina’s disappearance all matched which leads investigators to suspect all three crimes are linked. However, no other evidence has been found to prove all three cases were connected.

Additional Details:

On September 10th 1987, construction workers found a human skull and a dress in a subdivision in Oviedo, Florida. The skull was found to be that of a child aged between 5 and 7. Oviedo investigators did not send word of the remains to a statewide hotline for missing persons and did not tell Orlando police about the remains potential link to the Armstrong case. As a result, no link between the skull and Regina was made for the months. In July 1988, The skull and tattered dress were found in an evidence locker by an Orlando detective. He immediately noticed that the discovered dress matched the description of the one Regina was wearing at the time of her abduction. Police believe the girl was killed shortly after her abduction in June 1985. Unfortunately, the man who took her has not been identified and no credible suspects have been identified in the investigation. Regina’s murder remains unsolved.

Case Last Updated:

Nov 02, 2025