Cold case victim identifed after nearly 40 years
MOHAVE COUNTY (KTNV) - Mohave County Sheriff's investigators identified a nearly 40 year old cold case murder victim as Carol Ann Riley from San Diego County in California.
Jane Doe's remains were first found on May 16, 1987, around the Bonelli Landing at Lake Mead.
Throughout the years, investigators attempted to find the identity of the victim, but to no avail. However, a forensic odontologist was able to complete a NCIC Unidentified Person Dental Report and enter it into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs).
In 2011, MCSO detectives were contacted by investigators in Austin, Texas believing that Jane Doe was a missing person from their jurisdiction. Dental records did not result in a match. MCSO detectives sent in bone remains to the University of North Texas (UNT), where a DNA profile was obtained and entered into CODIS, a software program that contains the DNA profiles of convicted offenders, unsolved crime scene evidence and missing persons.
In April 2024, Mohave County Sheriff's Office investigators from their Special Investigations Unit contacted UNT to see if the sample was substantial enough for a Forensic Genetic Genalogy investigation. Investigators were told the sample was too small for the analysis.
In February 2025, SIU investigators made another attempt to identify the remains when the victim's clothing and the blanket she was wrapped in were sent to a lab in Flagstaff, Arizona. This attempt was unsuccessful.
Finally, in July 2025, SIU received a call from the Mohave County Medical Examiner's Office saying that a forensic odontologist and staff from the Missing and Unidentified Persons Unit from the California Department of Justice found a match for Carol Ann Riley, a woman who went missing in 1986.
Riley was born on April 4, 1943 and at the time of her disappearance, was a nurse who worked at a Scripps Clinic in San Diego.
She was dating a man known to her as Robert Howard Smith. She had a dinner date planned with him on the day of her disappearance and told friends she was breaking up with him, according to authorities.
Smith was interviewed by police, who stated that Riley had canceled the date. Two days later, Smith left town.
Detectives later discovered that Smith's real name was Robert Dean Weeks, who had a history of using false names and a history of women disappearing around him.
Weeks' ex-wife, Patricia Weeks, had disappeared on April 25, 1968, just weeks after their divorce was finalized.
He had also dated a real estate agent by the name of Cynthia Jabour, who was last seen on Oct. 5, 1980.
Weeks also had a business associate, James Shaw, who disappeared on May 5, 1971. Shaw disappeared after having an argument with Weeks. Shaw's bloodstained car was found abandoned in a Las Vegas parking lot.
The bodies of the victims were never found.
The investigation involving Weeks was featured on a popular television show, Unsolved Mysteries.
In April 1988, Weeks was convicted of the murder of his wife, Patricia Weeks and Cynthia Jabour. He was never charged for Riley and Shaw. He was sentenced to life in prison in Nevada, where he died on Sept. 20, 1996.
By Stephanie Aceves.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
11 minutes ago
- CTV News
Arrest made in fatal shooting of Mohawk College student struck by stray bullet in Hamilton
Hamilton police identified 21-year-old Harsimrat Randhawa as the victim who died in a shooting on April 17. (Hamilton Police Service) An arrest has been made in the shooting death of a Mohawk College student who police say was caught in the crossfire of a 'violent altercation' in Hamilton that involved multiple vehicles. At around 7:30 p.m. on April 17, police said Harsimrat Randhawa, a 21-year-old international student from India, was fatally struck by a stray bullet while waiting for a bus near the intersection of Upper James Street and South Bend Road. Police said the victim, who was not involved in the altercation, had just left a local gym and was heading home when she was hit by a single bullet during an exchange of gunfire between two groups. Speaking at a news conference on Thursday, police said shortly before the gunfire erupted, a dispute had broken out in the area. 'It had been going on for a few minutes and then had culminated with the shooting that happened when she arrived there,' Acting Det.-Sgt. Daryl Reid told reporters Thursday. On Aug. 5, police said 32-year-old Jerdaine Foster was arrested in Niagara Falls in connection with the deadly shooting. He faces one count of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder. 'Investigators know that there were at least seven people involved in this argument, this dispute, that resulted in the death,' Reid added. He said investigators are still working to identify the other suspects who were there that day. 'The investigation is still ongoing and we will do everything in our power to identify, locate, and arrest all of these people that are involved,' Reid said. 'We do believe there are more people out there with information that we need to know.' The accused, Reid noted, has ties to Halton, Hamilton and Niagara, and moved around though short-term rentals in the regions. Police would not provide any information about what may have led to the dispute between the two groups. 'The motive behind that dispute, that is a major part of the court process,' Reid said. With files from the Canadian Press
CTV News
11 minutes ago
- CTV News
Officials plan to seek the death penalty for a Tennessee man charged with killing 4
This photo provided by Tennessee Bureau of Investigation shows Austin Robert Drummond. (Tennessee Bureau of Investigation via AP) TITPONVILLE, Tenn. — Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against a Tennessee man charged with killing the parents, grandmother and uncle of an infant found abandoned in a home's front yard on Thursday. Austin Robert Drummond, 28, appeared by a video feed from jail before a judge in Tiptonville, two days after he was arrested in the killings that set the mostly rural region of western Tennessee on edge. At the hearing, District Attorney Danny Goodman told the judge that the state intends to seek the death penalty. Lake County General Sessions Judge Andrew T. Cook ordered Drummond held without bond because it a capital case. Drummond was wearing a black and white striped jumpsuit and seated in a chair. He told a judge he operated a business and he said he wants a speedy trial in the case. The judge entered a guilty plea on his behalf because a lawyer had not been appointed yet. The judge then ruled him indigent and granted a court-appointed attorney. Drummond is charged with four counts of first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping and weapons offenses. A weeklong search for Drummond ended when he was taken into custody in Jackson, located about 70 miles southeast of the location of the July 29 slayings. The ordeal began after an infant in a car seat was found in a front yard in the Tigrett area, roughly 40 miles (65 kilometres) from Tiptonville. The Dyer County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that a caller reported a minivan or midsize SUV had dropped the infant at a 'random individual's front yard.' The sheriff's office later said they were working with investigators in neighboring Lake County, where four people had been found dead from gunshot wounds. Officials determined those people were the child's parents, grandmother and uncle. Authorities later identified them as James M. Wilson, 21; Adrianna Williams, 20; Cortney Rose, 38; and Braydon Williams, 15. Wilson and Adrianna Williams were the infant's parents, while Rose was Adrianna and Braydon Williams' mother. Investigators determined the four relatives had not been seen since the night before, according to Goodman, the district attorney. A relative had called 911 after finding two vehicles in a remote area, and the four bodies were found in nearby woods, Goodman said. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch has said it's believed the killings were a targeted attack by Drummond. The baby is safe and being cared for by other relatives. Hours before Tuesday's arrest, Jackson Police posted a roughly 20-second video surveillance clip showing someone they said was Drummond wearing camouflage and carrying a firearm, trying to enter the door of an unspecified building. Jackson Police Chief Thom Corley said the calls from the public helped officers arrest Drummond, who had been staying in a vacant building near the woods where he was taken into custody. Drummond's criminal history includes prison time for robbing a convenience store and threatening to go after jurors. He was also charged with attempted murder while behind bars. The TBI has charged three other people they said helped Goodman after the killings. Adrian Sainz, The Associated Press
CBC
12 minutes ago
- CBC
Hamilton police arrest, charge man with murder in shooting of international student Harsimrat Randhawa
Social Sharing Hamilton police have arrested a man and charged him with first-degree murder in the shooting death of 21-year-old international student Harsimrat Randhawa. Jerdaine Foster, 32, was arrested in Niagara Falls, Ont., on Tuesday, said acting Det.-Sgt. Daryl Reid at a news conference Thursday. He was also charged with three counts of attempted murder, Reid said. Randhawa, from India, died in hospital of a gunshot wound after she was hit by a stray bullet while standing near a bus stop at the intersection of Upper James Street and South Bend Road on April 17. She'd just gotten off the bus and was waiting to cross the street when she was struck. "Harsimrat was an innocent bystander," Reid said. "She was simply trying to make her way home from a local gym when she was struck and killed." At least seven people in four cars were involved in a dispute that led up to the shooting, said Reid. No other arrests have been made. He would not say the nature of the dispute or if police know their identities. "The investigation is still ongoing, and we will do everything in our power to identify, locate and arrest all these people that are involved in this death," Reid said. Accused known to police Foster has ties to Hamilton, Halton and Niagara regions, living in short-term rental properties, Reid said. He was previously known to police. At least two guns were involved and shots were fired between cars, he said. Chief Frank Bergen said Randhawa lost her life to "a senseless act of gun violence," as did 26-year-old Belinda Sarkodie in July. Sarkodie was waiting at a bus stop near James Street North and King Street West when she was shot and killed. Police issued a warrant for the arrest of a 17-year-old suspect who they said had intended to target another group of people when Sarkodie was struck instead. Police have not announced any arrest. On Thursday, Bergen described both incidents as "selfish, dangerous and the byproduct of criminal entitlement." Of the investigation that led to Foster's arrest, Bergen said, it was complex, taking five months, and a "much welcome outcome for our grieving communities." Randhawa was in her second year studying occupational physiotherapy at Mohawk College. At a vigil in the days after her death, her professor, Micheline Lancia, remembered her as a "very kind soul." "It's very, very overwhelming to see a student who was doing so well, gentle, respectful, a little bit timid — she would have been a beautiful health-care worker," said Lancia. "So, it's a loss to everybody."
