The long-standing mystery of a set of human remains found nearly four decades ago at a popular recreation site at Lake Mead, Arizona, has been resolved. Authorities have now positively identified the remains as Carol Ann Riley, a San Diego woman reported missing in 1986. According to information provided by AZ Family, the identification was made after a forensic odontologist analyzed a dental sample linked to Riley.
The Mohave County Sheriff's Office reported that on May 16, 1987, a person at Bonelli Landing at Lake Mead discovered a skull, and subsequently, more remains in a shallow grave, wrapped in a yellow blanket. Initially, the remains were believed to belong to a woman between 20 to 40 years old, of light-brown haired. However, the identity of the woman remained a mystery for years. In a turn of tragic luck, the victim's skeletal remains were cremated in 2016, complicating the identification process with the scattering of her ashes at an unknown location, FOX 10 Phoenix reports.
Further attempts to establish a DNA profile from the bone remains were made by sending samples to the University of North Texas in 2011. A DNA profile was obtained and entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), but a genetic genealogy report initially deemed the sample too degraded for analysis in April 2024.
Investigations endured, and in February 2025, parts of the victim's clothing and the blanket were sent to an Arizona Department of Public Safety lab in Flagstaff. Despite these relentless efforts, obtaining a DNA sample suitable for Forensic Genetic Genealogy proved unsuccessful. The break in the case finally came when a forensic odontologist and the California Department of Justice's Missing and Unidentified Persons Unit performed a dental comparison with Riley, who had been missing since 1986, "As a result of their comparison, they positively identified Jane Doe as Carol Ann Riley," the sheriff's office said in a statement obtained by FOX 10 Phoenix.
Carol Ann Riley, who had been a nurse at Scripps Clinic in San Diego, was last seen before a dinner date where she intended to break up with her then-boyfriend, Robert Howard Smith. Authorities later discovered that Smith had used multiple fake identities and was, in reality, Robert Dean Weeks, a serial predator convicted of murdering two other women who died in prison. Riley's disappearance and subsequent death, although circumstantially linked to Weeks, had not been proven until now, shedding light on a sorrowful chapter that closed with the determination of her identity.
