Latest news with #CarolAnnRiley
CTV News
06-08-2025
- CTV News
Cold case victim identifed after nearly 40 years
Jane Doe's remains were first found on May 16, 1987, around the Bonelli Landing at Lake Mead. (Mohave County Sheriff's Office/KTNV via CNN Newsource) 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.
Daily Mail
06-08-2025
- Daily Mail
Cold-case 1986 disappearance of nurse after going on date with boyfriend she planned to dump solved in saddest way
The remains of a woman found on the Arizona-Nevada border have finally been identified as those of a Southern California nurse reported missing in 1986 after planning to break up with her boyfriend. Carol Ann Riley, from San Diego, disappeared after she had scheduled a dinner date with her boyfriend and told friends she intended to dump him, according to the Mohave County Sheriff's Office. Riley's remains were discovered at Lake Mead in May 1987 after a person rounding up steers near Bonelli Landing found a human skull on the ground. More remains were found in a shallow grave in the area, but they went unidentified until just last month, when dental records confirmed the match, authorities said. Riley's boyfriend, known as Robert Howard Smith, told police at the time of her disappearance that she had cancelled their date. Just two days later, he left town and 'dropped out of sight,' the sheriff's office said. Investigators discovered that Smith's real name was Robert Dean Weeks, who had a history of adopting aliases and was also connected to another disappearance in Nevada. Weeks' ex-wife, Patricia Weeks, had vanished from Clark County in 1968 just a few weeks after their divorce was finalized. Her body was never found. Carol Ann Riley (pictured) , from San Diego, disappeared after she had scheduled a dinner date with her boyfriend with the intention of dumping him Riley's remains were found at Lake Mead in May 1987 after a person rounding up steers near Bonelli Landing (pictured) found a human skull on the ground Riley's then-boyfriend, later identified as Robert Dean Weeks (pictured), told police that Riley had cancelled their date. Just two days later, he 'dropped out of sight' Weeks also dated a real estate agent, Cynthia Jabour, who disappeared in 1980 after the pair had a dinner date scheduled where she also planned to end their relationship, authorities said. He had also got into an argument with a business associate, James Shaw, who disappeared in 1971. Shaw's bloodstained car was found abandoned in a Las Vegas parking lot. Shaw and Jabour were ever found. A warrant was issued for Weeks' arrest for fraud and embezzlement charges related to his business, and he was found and arrested in Arizona after he was featured on the popular TV show Unsolved Mysteries. At Weeks' trial, two of his children with ex-wife Patricia took to the stand and detailed 'how their father had beaten their mother on numerous occasions,' according to the Charley Project. In April 1988, he was convicted of murdering Patricia and Jabour, and sentenced to life in prison in Nevada. He was never charged with the murder of Riley or Shaw. He died in prison in 1996. The dental comparison between the remains and records of Riley confirmed that the body was that of the missing nurse Unsuccessful attempts to match Riley's remains to DNA or dental records occurred in 2011, 2024 and 2025, before the Mohave County Sheriff's Office Special Investigations Unit was contacted by the Mohave Medical Examiner's Office. 'An email received indicated that a forensic odontologist and staff from the Missing and Unidentified Persons Unit, California Department of Justice, had worked on dental comparison of the Jane Doe victim and Carol Ann Riley,' the sheriff's office said in a release. The dental comparison between the remains and records of Riley confirmed that the body was that of the missing nurse.
