Case Details
- Photo URLs:
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- Missing Since:
- Missing Since 04/05/1986
- Missing From:
- Missing From San Diego, California
- Classification:
- Classification Endangered Missing
- Gender:
- Female
- Race:
- Race White
- Date of Birth:
- Age:
- Age 42 years old
- Height and Weight:
- Height and Weight 5’7, 130 pounds
- Clothing/Jewelry Description:
- Distinguishing Characteristics:
- Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, blue eyes. Riley wears contact lenses. She may use the last names Macoubrie and/or Wilcoxson.
- Details of Disappearance:
- Riley, a nurse in San Diego, vanished on April 5, 1986, after a work conference. Her car was found abandoned a few days later. She’d planned to break up with her boyfriend, “Robert Howard Smith,” on that very day.
This “Smith” was actually Robert Dean Weeks, a man with a history of using fake names. Police investigating Riley’s disappearance discovered a chilling pattern: Weeks had a history of women disappearing after they ended relationships with him.
His ex-wife, Patricia, vanished in 1968 after their divorce, and her car was found abandoned. Years later, his girlfriend, Cynthia, disappeared in 1980, also after a planned breakup, with her car abandoned as well. Another man, James Shaw, a business associate, also disappeared after arguing with Weeks.
The similarities between these cases led to a manhunt. Weeks was finally found in 1987, living under a false name. He was convicted of murdering Patricia and Cynthia based on the circumstantial evidence, even though their bodies were never found – a first in Nevada’s history. He died in prison in 1996 without ever facing charges in the other disappearances. Police suspect he may have disposed of the bodies in mine shafts in the Nevada desert. Riley’s disappearance remains unsolved.
- Agency:
- San Diego Police Department 619-531-2277
- Source Links:
This person was missing Missing Since 04/05/1986