“The Secret in the Water”: 20/20 Examines the Regina Hicks Cold Case May 1 2026
ABC’s 20/20 returns Friday, May 1, 2026, with The Secret in the Water, a two-hour true crime episode reported by Deborah Roberts. The broadcast examines the death of Regina Rowe Hicks, a 25-year-old Ohio woman whose disappearance in October 2001 began one of the region’s oldest cold case investigations.
The episode follows the case from Regina’s last known movements to the discovery of her body in a submerged car, then through the renewed investigation that led to the arrest, trial, conviction, and sentencing of her ex-husband, Paul Hicks. It is a story centered on family grief, delayed justice, and a prosecution that came more than two decades after the crime.
- Who Was Regina Hicks & What Happened to Her? 2026 Update & Profile
- Who Is Paul Hicks & Where Is He Now? 2026 Update & Profile
- “The Secret in the Water”: 20/20 Examines the Regina Hicks Cold Case May 1 2026
Contents
Regina Hicks Disappears in October 2001
Regina Hicks was 25 years old when she vanished on Thursday, October 18, 2001. According to prosecutors, she left her boyfriend’s home in her white Chevrolet Camaro at about 8 p.m. to pick up her young son, but she never arrived.
Her disappearance alarmed her family, who searched for answers as days passed without word from her. At the time, Regina and Paul Hicks were separated, and prosecutors later said the couple was facing conflict over divorce, custody, and money.
Four days later, on October 22, 2001, Regina’s Camaro was found in a pond on Section Line Road 30 in Willard, Ohio. Her body was inside the vehicle, seated on the passenger side.
Authorities did not treat the death as a simple accident. Regina had bruising on her head, and investigators believed there were signs that something had happened before the car entered the water.
A Case That Went Cold for More Than Two Decades
The investigation remained unresolved for years. Regina’s family continued to believe Paul Hicks was responsible, but the case lacked the evidence needed to bring charges at the time.
The case returned to focus after renewed investigative work by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, working with the Huron County Sheriff’s Office. In April 2025, Paul Hicks was arrested after a grand jury indicted him.
The renewed case relied on witness testimony, timeline evidence, and prosecutors’ argument that Regina’s death was not an accident. Investigators examined what happened on the night she disappeared, what Paul Hicks did the next day, and what people around him later said they saw.
By the time the case reached trial in December 2025, nearly 24 years had passed since Regina’s death.
The Prosecution’s Case Against Paul Hicks
Prosecutors argued that Paul Hicks knocked Regina unconscious, placed her in the passenger seat of her 1992 Camaro, drove the vehicle to the pond, and sent it into the water. They said Regina died by drowning.
A key witness was Steven Gates, a close friend of Paul Hicks. Gates testified that Regina came to his property on the night she died to pick up the son she shared with Hicks. He said he saw Regina and Hicks arguing outside her car before he went inside.
When Gates returned, he said Regina’s car had been moved and that Regina was “crumpled up” in the front passenger seat. According to his testimony, Hicks told him, “She’s already dead,” then drove Regina’s car toward the pond while Gates followed. Gates said he saw the taillights rise and disappear into the water.
Prosecutors also presented testimony from Paul Hicks’ sister, Crystal Hicks, who said she saw muddy clothes in her bathtub after Regina’s disappearance. Gates testified that Hicks cleaned up after the incident and left boots on the back porch. Prosecutors argued those boots later disappeared.
Motive, Custody, and Divorce
The state argued that the motive involved control, custody, and money. Prosecutors said Paul Hicks and Regina were near divorce, fighting over their son, and that Regina was moving forward with her life.
One key timeline detail was that Paul Hicks filed for divorce on October 19, 2001, the day after Regina was first reported missing. In those documents, he sought full custody of their 4-year-old son and described Regina as unstable.
Prosecutors said Hicks tried to attack Regina’s character by suggesting she used poor judgment, was unstable, and may have been suicidal. A former detective testified that investigators found the opposite, saying there was no evidence that Regina was a “nervous wreck” before her death.
The prosecution also used testimony about Hicks’ behavior after the death, including claims that he discussed beating polygraph tests and watched crime shows about evidence disposal.
The Defense Challenges the Evidence
The defense argued that the prosecution’s case rested on speculation and on a witness who had kept silent for many years. Gates had received immunity before testifying, and the defense focused on his credibility.
Defense lawyers also pointed to the lack of forensic evidence linking Paul Hicks to the killing. A DNA expert testified that five items from Regina’s car, including the headrest, keys, phone, jeans, and sweatshirt, did not produce enough DNA for comparison.
The defense said there was no scientific proof connecting Hicks to the crime scene. They also argued that prosecutors were asking jurors to rely on a witness who had lied by omission for decades.
Hicks did not testify in his own defense. During the trial, jurors also heard from his mother, who contradicted a claim that Hicks had a twin brother and said he did not have one.
The Trial and Conviction
Paul Hicks’ jury trial began on December 9, 2025, in Huron County Court of Common Pleas. Jury selection ended with 12 jurors and four alternates seated.
During the trial, prosecutors built their case through testimony from family members, investigators, forensic witnesses, and people connected to Hicks. The state emphasized the timeline, Regina’s custody dispute, the divorce filing, and Gates’ account of the night Regina died.
Both sides rested on December 17, 2025. Closing arguments followed, with the prosecution saying Regina’s death could not be explained as an accident and the defense saying the state had not proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
On December 19, 2025, the jury found Paul Hicks guilty of three counts of murder and one count of kidnapping. Regina’s family reacted with relief after waiting 24 years for an outcome.
Sentencing and the Final Outcome
On January 9, 2026, Paul Hicks was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. The sentence included 15 years to life for murder and a 10-year sentence for kidnapping, served consecutively.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said the conviction showed that “truth has no expiration date.” Huron County Prosecutor James Sitterly and the Ohio Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Section handled the case.
For Regina’s family, the verdict closed a chapter that had remained open since 2001. Her cousin Angela Rowe said the family felt they could “finally breathe again” after decades of waiting.
The Secret in the Water presents that long path from disappearance to conviction, showing how a case once buried in uncertainty returned to court and ended with Paul Hicks held accountable for Regina Hicks’ death.
More “The Secret in the Water”
- “The Secret in the Water”: 20/20 Examines the Regina Hicks Cold Case May 1 2026
- Who Was Regina Hicks & What Happened to Her? 2026 Update & Profile
- Who Is Paul Hicks & Where Is He Now? 2026 Update & Profile
