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After a protracted nationwide manhunt, Lois Riess, a 56-year-old Minnesota grandmother wanted in connection with the killings of her husband, David Riess, and a Florida woman named Pamela Hutchinson, was arrested on the evening of April 19, 2018, at a South Texas restaurant. Authorities were only able to locate the wanted fugitive after receiving a tip.
Riess was allegedly on the run after gunning down her husband, who was found in their Blooming Prairie home on March 23, 2018. His decomposing body was found nearly two weeks after he was allegedly murdered during a welfare check. Lois then murdered Hutchinson after befriending her to assume her identity.
An upcoming episode of ID's See No Evil will further elaborate on the case against Lois Riess and how she became the subject of a nationwide manhunt. The all-new episode, titled Double Identity, will air this Wednesday, January 25, at 9 pm ET.
The synopsis of the episode states:
"In 2018, 59-year-old Pamela Hutchinson is found dead in her Florida condo; the search for answers leads police to a mysterious woman spotted on CCTV; when the suspect is linked to yet another murder, it sparks a nationwide manhunt and media frenzy."
"Killer Grandma" Lois Riess was arrested in South Texas restaurant following a tip-off
Lois Riess, the mother of three children and a grandmother of five, was arrested in Texas following a tip-off. After murdering her husband, she fled to Florida, where, according to the U.S. Marshals Service, she shot and killed her lookalike, intending to assume her identity.
Authorities arrested Riess at a restaurant on South Padre Island, Texas, at 8.30 pm on April 19, 2018, over a month after she killed her husband and a few weeks after she killed her new friend Pamela Hutchinson. South Padre Island is a beach tourist town located 27 miles from the border of Mexico.
According to CBS, a witness reportedly contacted the police and claimed to have seen a woman who matched Riess' description at the restaurant. Officers were able to positively identify her, and her vehicle was towed away and seized "for forensic processing." She supposedly stole the car in Florida. Riess was unarmed when she was taken into custody.
Lois Riess pleaded guilty to David Riess' murder in 2020
Lois Riess had been missing since late March 2018, when her husband David Riess, 54, was discovered shot dead at their Blooming Prairie, Minnesota, home. Soon after the discovery, Lois became the target of an extensive investigation and was on the run until her arrest in April.
Riess was last seen on March 23 at a casino and convenience store in northern Iowa, the same day her husband's body was found with multiple gunshot wounds inside his house. Investigators alleged that she fled to Florida, where she killed Pamela Hutchinson, 59.
On April 8, she even collected a reward from the Coushatta Casino Resort in Kinder, Louisiana. This was before Hutchinson was found dead at a Fort Myers Beach hotel by authorities and before the woman was widely recognized as a wanted fugitive across the nation. She then used the victim's ID to cash out money from her account.
Before making the final arrest, authorities claimed they had received hundreds of tips. The U.S. Marshals got involved, and billboards for Riess went up in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, and Nevada. She was also spotted driving Hutchinson's vehicle.
Furthermore, Lois Riess' and Pamela Hutchinson's passport information was reported to border officials, making it unlikely for her to flee the country. Later, the authorities thanked the media and claimed that the coverage contributed to her arrest.
In December 2019, Riess pleaded guilty to murder and other related charges in Hutchinson's case in Florida, after which she was extradited to Minnesota, where she pleaded guilty to David Riess' murder in the summer of 2020.
Catch the thrilling case on ID's See No Evil on January 25, 2023.
