Lake Mead Identifies Missing San Diego Nurse from 1980s Cold Case

The Identification of a Missing Nurse

The remains of a San Diego woman who went missing in 1986 have finally been identified after being discovered at Lake Mead years ago, according to the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office. This long-awaited breakthrough has brought closure to a case that has remained unsolved for decades.

Carol Ann Riley was a nurse working at Scripps Clinic in San Diego. At the time of her disappearance in 1986, she was dating a man known as Robert Howard Smith. She had planned a dinner date with him and had informed friends that she intended to end their relationship. However, Smith told police that Riley had canceled the date. Two days later, he left town and disappeared from the public eye.

Detectives later uncovered that Smith's real name was Robert Dean Weeks, and he had a history of using false identities. His past included connections to several other missing persons cases. For instance, his ex-wife, Patricia Weeks, vanished from Clark County on April 25, 1968, shortly after their divorce was finalized. Weeks also dated a real estate agent named Cynthia Jabour, who disappeared after a scheduled dinner date in October 1980. Additionally, his business associate, James Shaw, disappeared in May 1971 after an argument with Weeks. His bloodstained vehicle was found abandoned in a Las Vegas parking lot, but neither his body nor that of Riley or Shaw was ever recovered.

In April 1987, the investigation into Weeks was featured on the television show Unsolved Mysteries. A warrant had been issued for his arrest due to fraud and embezzlement charges related to his business. As a result of viewer tips, Weeks was eventually located and arrested in Arizona.

On May 16, 1987, a person rounding up steers near Bonelli Landing at Lake Mead discovered a human skull. Further searches revealed additional remains buried in a shallow grave and wrapped in a blanket. At the time, the remains were believed to be those of a female between 20 and 40 years old. Despite efforts to identify her, the case remained unsolved, and she was listed as Jane Doe in the system.

In 1988, Weeks was convicted of the murders of his wife, Patricia Weeks, and Cynthia Jabour, even though their bodies were never found. He was never charged with the deaths of Riley and Shaw. He received a life sentence in Nevada and passed away there on September 20, 1996.

In February, investigators sent parts of the unidentified person’s clothing and the blanket in which she was wrapped to a lab in Arizona in an attempt to obtain DNA. However, these efforts were unsuccessful. Later, they learned that her skeletal remains had been cremated in 2016, and her ashes were scattered at an unknown location.

On July 15, investigators were contacted by personnel at the Mohave County Medical Examiner’s Office after an email indicated that a forensic odontologist from the Missing and Unidentified Persons Unit, California Department of Justice, had conducted a dental comparison between the Jane Doe victim and Carol Ann Riley. As a result of this comparison, the remains were positively identified as Riley.

This identification marks a significant step in bringing closure to a decades-old mystery and highlights the ongoing efforts of law enforcement to solve cold cases.