Sins & Survivors: A Las Vegas True Crime Podcast - The Mysteris of Lake Mead - Part 4

Episode Date: August 26, 2025

In 1987, near Lake Mead at Bonelli Landing, a rancher discovered a human skull and remains wrapped in a yellow blanket and buried in a shallow grave. They became another unidentified Jane Doe, her identity lost to time.Nearly 40 years later, on July 15, 2025, forensic scientists matched dental records and confirmed that those remains belonged to San Diego nurse Carol Ann Riley, who vanished in 1986 after a date with a man later revealed to be serial murderer Robert Dean Weeks.https://sinspod.co/93https://sinspod.co/93bloghttps://sinspod.co/93sourceshttps://sinspod.co/93sub (Substack Article)Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sins-survivors-a-las-vegas-true-crime-podcast--6173686/support.Domestic Violence Resourceshttp://sinspod.co/resourcesClick here to become a member of our Patreon!https://sinspod.co/patreonVisit and join our Patreon now and access our ad-free episodes and exclusive bonus content & schwag! Get ad-free access for only $1 a month or ad-free and bonus episodes for $3 a monthApple Podcast Subscriptionshttps://sinspod.co/appleWe're now offering premium membership benefits on Apple Podcast Subscriptions! On your mobile deviceLet us know what you think about the episodehttps://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2248640/open_sms

To listen ad-free, visit sinspod.co.com slash subscribe. Starting at $2.99 a month, you'll also get access to our exclusive bonus content episodes when you join through Patreon or Apple subscriptions. Thanks for supporting the show. In 1987, near Lake Mead at Pinelli Landing, a rancher discovered a human skull and remains wrapped in a yellow blanket and buried in a shallow grave. They became another unidentified Jane Doe for identity lost to time. Nearly 40 years later, on July 15th, 2025, forensic scientists matched dental records and confirmed that those remains belonged to San Diego Nurse Carol Ann Riley, who vanished in 1986, after a date with a man later revealed to be serial murderer Robert Dean Weeks.

Hi, and welcome to Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas true crime podcast, who are we focus on cases that deal with domestic violence, as well as missing persons and unsolved cases. I'm your host, Sean. And I'm your co-host, John. Welcome to our final episode of Season 2. We got some excellent feedback from listeners about our Lake Mead anthology episodes, so we were planning to bring you more Lake Mead stories next season. But over the past few weeks, there have been several more interesting stories about Lake Mead. So with summer, unfortunately, coming to a close and season two sunsetting as well, we decided. excited this was a great time to head back to the lake.

Like Sean said, this will be our final episode of season two. We're going to be taking a break for the month of September, but we will be back in October for Domestic Violence Awareness Month with all new episodes. We're exploring some changes to the format of the show also. As you know, we've been testing out video and we're thinking about how we can continue to bring you quality cases and content on a regular basis, but also have the flexibility to bring you fresh episodes when a story we've covered has an update, or there is breaking news here in Las Vegas. One of those changes is that we will be moving to an every other

week's schedule. That way, we can dedicate more time to in-depth research on cases, but also have more time during the in-between weeks to bring you updates or breaking stories. We also have a concept for a true crime spinoff series that we will be working on as well. We're planning to have an update for you on that when the new season starts. I'm really excited about that new project as well. So all next month, we'll be working on developing these ideas. And when we come back in October, we'll be bringing you the same ethical true crime content we have for nearly 100 episodes. Thank you again for all of your support. Back to this week, we have two major stories related to Lake Mead, one of which blends the three topics we cover most on the show,

domestic violence, unsolved cases, and missing persons, but this is one of the few times where we are also covering the story of a serial murderer. Before we get to that, we have a piece of sad news about Lake Mead, the vertical speedboat that we mentioned during the earlier episodes has been removed from the lake by the National Park Service. The speedboat had been an unofficial indicator of the lake's water levels for at least three years, sticking up almost 15 feet in the air like an obelisk. But as part of the Love Lake Mead project, it has been removed as part of the effort to clean up the shoreline debris. Reports say it was ripped out of the lake in pieces. We understand that some were curious about the abandoned boat in the Las Vegas

wash area, but the boat, like other abandoned boats, was also viewed as an eyesore and a nuisance and poorly represented the quality of boating recreation at Lake Mead. That's what Lake Superintendent Mike Gautier told 8 News Now. Gautier said he doesn't want the visual for the lake to be an abandoned boat. He wants it to be about folks having fun at the lake. And given the reputation for Lake Mead, with all the stories we've covered so far and the dozens more we could cover, the lake needs all the help it can get to protect its reputation. According to Gautier, they communicated with their recreation partners and businesses, and they agreed that removing trash, abandoned camps, and other debris helps to restore and protect the grandeur of Lake Mead.

Also, I did see a photo recently that showed that the boat had been spray painted with a message to Governor Joe Lombardo about rent control, and I'm sure that was a factor in the decision to remove it as well. The road leading to that part of the lake has been closed for about a year because people had been camping along the road and leaving trash behind. Reporter Duncan Phoenix of 8 News Now did an excellent job of documenting the speedboat in 2022, including taking photos of personal items that had sunk along with the boat, which included a teddy bear. There are some haunting photos of it, and we'll be sharing those, and you can find a link to that reporting in the show notes. I have such mixed feelings about this. The boat was almost like a piece of art, and a

monument to the receding water levels, but I can understand why it had become an eyesore and dangerous, because I bet people would want to explore it and climb on it. Not to mention, that's our drinking water reservoir, and it's a really bad look to have trash in the lake be a sort of tourist attraction. We also continue to deal with the water levels of the lake. It's predicted that by June of 2027, the level will be at its shallowest since the lake was created in the 1930s. And for the fifth year in a row, Nevada's actually... excess share of the lake's water has been cut. This year, it's another 7%. Right now, there are about 40 million people who rely on the Colorado River for water, and it's not really clear what else

we can do here locally to cut our usage. So I guess we'll see. We'll see what the next few years bring. The summer isn't quite over yet, so we don't have any finalized data as to whether or not Lake Mead continues to be one of the most dangerous national parks. But like I said, this is a popular topic. So I think next season, we'll do another anthology episode, and we'll be sure to update you on anything we've covered. So for now, let's move on to the cases we have for you for this episode. Our main case this week begins at Lake Mead, of course, with the discovery of unidentified remains. And this case stretches across decades. It's about Caroline Riley and two other women, Patricia Weeks and Cynthia Jabor, who are all connected to one man, Robert Weeks.

The story begins at Benelli Landing on Lake Mead, which is a lot of on the south side of the lake on the Arizona side. Like most of the areas around Lake Mead, Pinelli Landing is known for hiking, fishing, and camping, and it's a spot where you can launch a boat and enjoy some time out on the lake. It's considered more remote and rugged than other parts of the Lake Mead recreation area. It's more deserted with fewer amenities. On May 16, 1987, a cattle rancher was rounding up steer in Benelli Landing when he spotted something pale in the dust. As he came closer, he realized that it was a human skull. Investigators searching the immediate area found more bones, partially buried and wrapped in a yellow blanket.

It was obvious the person had not just wandered into the desert and died naturally. The rancher had stumbled upon a hidden grave and likely a crime scene. Detectives collected, recorded, and cataloged the scene. They reported that the remains likely belonged to a white female between 20 and 40 years old, between 5'3 and 5'7 and between 105 and 120 pounds, with light brown. hair. They were unable to identify her, but she was logged into case files as a Jane Doe. As a part of their efforts to identify her, a forensic odontologist cataloged her dental work and uploaded it into Namus, the National Missing and Identified Person System, but there was no

match. In 2011, investigators thought they might have a lead in a possible match with a woman missing from Texas, but unfortunately, the dental comparison came up negative. scientists at the University of North Texas attempted to build the DNA profile from the degraded bones and enter those into CODIS, the FBI's national database, but there was no match to any profiles. Keeping in mind that CODIS contains profiles from convicted offenders, unsolved crime scene evidence, and missing or unidentified persons. So all that means is that she wasn't already in the system. When technology improved and investigators saw how genetic genealogy was able to solve case after case, They attempted to get her DNA re-analyzed, but the sample was too degraded.

Even worse, they found out that in 2016, her skeletal remains had been cremated and her ashes scattered, so there was no chance of getting a new DNA analysis from the bones. In 2024, they attempted to test the fabric of the clothing and the blanket for touch DNA, but those efforts failed as well. It was starting to look like this victim would never be identified. With no remains left to test, the investigation was at a complete standstill. Then against the odds came a breakthrough. Just last month on July 15, 2025, the California Department of Justice's Missing Persons Unit, working with a forensic autontologist, confirmed a dental match. Jane Doe was identified as Carol Ann Riley, a nurse from San Diego, who had vanished in 1986. The identification came almost 40 years after her disappearance, and with that, investigators confirmed what many had long suspected, that Carol was among the victim. of Robert Dean Weeks.

Carol grew up in Michigan and graduated from the University of Michigan with her nursing degree and moved to Colorado for work after graduation. Friends and coworkers described her as dependable, compassionate, and devoted to her patients. According to her mom, Marjorie, her good nature was her downfall. In 1983, when Carol was working the night shift at a hospital in Longmont, Colorado, she met a man named Robert Howard Smith. He was recovering from a broken leg and he was in tremendous pain. to the point where he was threatening to jump out of the window.

Carol wheeled his bed out to the nurse's station where she was able to calm him down. As a result, Robert said she had saved his life and he wanted to do something for her, and so the two started dating. He convinced her to move to San Diego and she started working as a nurse at the Scripps Clinic. By April of 1986, Carol was no longer dating Robert and hadn't been for at least four or five months. According to reporting in the Arizona Daily Star, they had broken up, and Carol was engaged to a doctor named Calvin Zen who lived back in Longman. On Friday, April 5, 1986, Carol planned to have dinner with Robert for what sounds like a farewell dinner. At noon that day, she chatted with her parents, John and Marjorie, who said that she sounded very bubbly and happy.

She was excited for her upcoming wedding. At dinner, Carol was planning to tell Robert that she was moving back to Colorado to get married. She told her friend Sheila about the date as well and mentioned that she was not looking forward to the awkward conversation. Based on this limited context, it sounds like Robert was in denial about the breakup, and Carol was about to make it very clear

that they were over and that she was moving on. That day, she kept her usual routine, she worked at the clinic, and around 5.30 p.m., she phoned her boss to update him. But after that, no one heard from her. Her coworkers knew right away something was wrong because Carol would call to check on her patients twice a day.

Calvin had been calling her condo, but there was no answer. John, her dad, called Robert that day, and he said that Carol had stood him up and he hadn't seen her. Her parents and Calvin contacted the police and hired a private investigator on April 7th. There was some reporting that a waitress had seen Carol at the restaurant alone, but aside from talking to her boss at 5.30 that Friday evening, there was no trace of her.

On April 8th, her Pontiac Fierro was found abandoned at the Honolet Hotel parking lot in Mission Valley, San Diego. Shortly after that, the private investigator discovered Robert Smith was not who he said he was. He was actually Robert Dean Weeks, a man with a long history of jealous rage and violence. But Robert himself had also vanished. He told his roommate on April 7th that he was leaving on business, and he dropped completely off the radar. Robert Weeks had a terrifying past. His first marriage to Patricia Weeks ended in 1968. She had endured years of abuse with her doctor treating her for severe injuries several times.

Her children also clearly recalled violence in their home, and when Patricia finally divorced him in April of 1968, the court granted her custody of their four kids. Just two weeks later, Patricia vanished. Her car was found abandoned. Weeks told his children that their mother had just deserted them. But, of course, her family and friends never believed that. She never would have left her four daughters behind, but she was never seen again.

Twelve years later, in October of 1980, another woman connected to Robert Weeks disappeared. Cynthia Jabour was a successful Las Vegas real estate agent who had been dating Weeks for six years. At the time, Weeks was living in Las Vegas, working in business ventures that included limousine services and odd jobs. Just like Carol, Cynthia confided to friends that she was planning to end things. On October 5th, 1980, Cynthia was seen in the lobby of Robert's condominium around 10.30 p.m., and she had dinner plans with him. The next day, her car was found abandoned at Caesar's Palace. Does that sound familiar? Just like Carol, she had a date planned with Robert. She was planning to end their relationship. She disappeared, and her abandoned car was found in a hotel.

Friends entered her apartment and found her expensive clothing, financial accounts, and securities untouched, so it was obvious she had definitely not just run away. Robert claimed she had canceled their dinner plans, but when detectives asked him to take a polygraph, he skipped it and fled to Tijuana, and then Chile, and then re-enter the U.S. months later, with a Libyan passport. Cynthia's body has never been recovered. By the time Carol disappeared in 1986, the pattern was pretty clear. Patricia in 1968, Cynthia in 1980, Carol in 1986, with each woman trying to leave Robert and

each one vanishing. Investigators knew he was dangerous, but he continued to evade capture. He reinvented himself constantly with new names and new businesses. In 1987, he was living in Tucson, Arizona, as Charles F. Stalzenberg, and running a novelty ashtray company called Snuffet. For years, police couldn't catch him, and the people closest to him had no idea of the past he had left behind in Las Vegas and San Diego. I know we called this episode Unsolved Mysteries of Lake Mead like we did the other anthology episodes, but this story was actually featured on the U.S. TV show Unsolved Mysteries. In May of 1987, the show aired a segment on the cases of Patricia, Cynthia, and Carol. They described the three missing women, all last connected

to Robert Weeks, and the episode reached millions of viewers. In Tucson, Robert's current girlfriend recognized him on the screen, and the very next day, May 26, 1987, police arrested him at his business. The arresting officer approached him and said, hi Robert. And when Robert, who was using the alias Charles, responded, the police knew they had found him. After nearly two decades, the man who had eluded accountability was finally behind bars. Marjorie Carroll's mom would later say that Robert finally being caught had probably saved his current girlfriend's life. Another interesting coincidence, one of the officers who arrested Robert was that girlfriend's ex-husband. One of Robert's friends, who was later interviewed, stated that Robert himself had watched

the Unsolved Mysteries broadcast, but he didn't think any of his friends would be watching. In 1988, Weeks stood trial in Las Vegas for the murders of Patricia Weeks and Cynthia Jabor. Even without their bodies, prosecutors built a strong case. Patricia's doctor testified about the injuries consistent with abuse and their children described seeing him assault their mother. A prison informant, a convicted bank robber, testified that Robert admitted to killing multiple women and burying them in the desert. They also presented his diaries, which included chilling entries about Cynthia like one that read, You've humiliated me beyond belief. I will even the score. The jury also heard about Carol's disappearance, though she was not formally

part of the charges, to establish a pattern. On April 22nd, 1988, the jury convicted weeks on two counts of first-degree murder. The first murder convictions in Nevada history without the victim's bodies. On July 1st, 1988, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Weeks appealed, but in 1990, the Nevada Supreme Court upheld the conviction. Weeks died behind bars in 1996 at the age of 68. He never revealed where he put Cynthia's or Patricia's bodies. In addition to these three women, Robert is also believed to be responsible for the disappearance and death of his business partner Jim Shaw, a 41-year-old man who disappeared from Las Vegas in May of 1971. On the day Jim disappeared, he was seen arguing with Robert. Later, he worked a swing shift at

Whittlesee Cab Company at the southeast corner of Tropicana in Paradise. His son arrived at work at 11.30 p.m. and said good night when Jim left work. About an hour later, his car, a beige Ford Galaxy was found abandoned in an alley off of Maryland Parkway between Desert Inn and Sahara near Karen. And of course, back in 1971, the area west of that alley was all open desert. Inside the car were bloodstains and Jim hasn't been seen since. For these three families, the years have stretched on with no answers, no remains, no graves, and no closure. After decades of failed leads, when Carol's name was restored, it was bittersweet for Patricia and Cynthia's loved ones. Patricia's granddaughter Sarah Bowie told the review journal that Carol's identification gave her hope that

her grandmother might also be found. She even theorized Patricia could be in Lake Mead. She described how the trauma had lasted across generations. Another relatives said that detectives had collected DNA swabs from elderly family members years ago, showing how long they'd worked to solve the cases. For them, Carol's identification proved that answers can come even after nearly 40 years. This story also shows again how dangerous it is to an abusive partner. For Carol, it took nearly 40 years for her remains to be identified. But for Patricia, Cynthia, and Jim, their bodies have never been found. Weeks is dead, but the families are still waiting for answers. If anyone has any information, we urge you to reach out

to Las Vegas Metro. The next story we have this week is one about Lake Mead that John and I have been talking about for the past couple weeks. Just recently, on Sunday, July 27th, a 42-year-old man whose name was never disclosed by the media, which kind of gives away the ending here, was celebrating a family member's birthday on Lake Mead. Specifically, they sailed over to Kingman Wash, which is on the Arizona side of Lake Mead. It was 105 or 106 degrees all that week, which is dangerous anywhere, but particularly dangerous on or near the lake because you get not only the heat, but also the reflection off the lake. People often underestimate how hot it can be out there. When the party was winding down around 7 p.m., the man's family couldn't locate him,

so they decided to head back to the Nevada side of the lake and go home and leave some supplies for him, which is wild to me. I'll have more to say about that in the Swing Shift episode, so visit Sinspod.com slash subscribe so you can hear that. Even stranger and more concerning is the fact that they didn't report him missing until around noon on Monday, and when they did report him missing, it was just to the National Park Service not the appropriate local sheriff's office, who would work with the NPS to coordinate search and rescue. It's not clear from the reporting what, if any, search efforts were undertaken by NPS on that Monday. So you may say to yourself, how would they know who to call? But I was curious about

how hard that would be to figure it out, and it took me about five minutes. I'll talk about that process in the Swing Shift episode, too. Well, fortunately for this man, there was another unrelated missing person that was called into the Mojave County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday, July 29th, and they got a search and rescue operation underway. They were looking for this 60-year-old motorist that had become stranded near Bonelli Bay. Benelli Bay isn't particularly close to Kingman Wash, but luckily, MCSO found the motorist

and called it into NPS search and rescue. And when they spoke, NPS told the caller from the sheriff's office about the original report of the missing man in Kingman Wash, and the sheriff's office search and rescue headed to that area with an NPS Ranger to look for him, finally, noting that, now this man had been missing for about 40 hours in the daily 106 degree heat.

When they got to the landing area in Kingman Wash, they met some fishermen, who told the ranger and the sheriffs that they were able to hear someone screaming for help, saying that they needed water, but they couldn't see him. The search and rescue team was able to locate him quickly on a steep incline west of the landing with no shirt, no shoes, no food, and no water. They got him down the incline after giving him water and electrolytes, and then got him on a boat back to the Nevada's side of the lake on an NPS boat. It was a happy ending with some really weird circumstances and if we learn any more details about it, we'll be sure to share them. Like you said, that story is bizarre and we are so grateful for the search and rescue teams who were able to save both those men. I'm sure everyone

listening to these episodes recognizes how dangerous Lake Me can be and honestly, I don't think you can prepare too much or be too careful when it comes to the extreme heat. Also, even though it's been 50 plus years that Jim Shaw, Patricia Weeks, and Cynthia Jabor have been missing. If you have any information regarding their disappearances, please reach out to Las Vegas Metro at 702-828-2-2-1907, or you can email them at missing persons cold case at LvMPD.com. You can also contact Prime Stoppers at 702-385-55 or visit Crimesoppers of NV.com. Thank you again for all of your support over two years of content and nearly 100 episodes. We'll be back in a few weeks. Till then, remember, what happens here, happens everywhere.

visit sinspod.co slash subscribe for exclusive bonus content and to listen ad-free. Remember to like and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and threads at Sins and Survivors. If you're enjoying the podcast, please leave us a review on your podcast platform of choice. You can contact us at Questions at Sins and Survivors.com. If you are someone you know is affected by domestic violence or needs support, please reach out to local resources or the National Domestic Violence Hotline, a list of resources is available on our website, sins and survivors.com.

Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas true crime podcast, is researched written and produced by your hosts, Sean and John. The information shared in this podcast is accurate at the time of recording. If you have questions, concerns, or corrections, please email us. Links to source material for this episode can be found on our

website, Sins and Survivors.com. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the podcast creators, hosts, and their guests. All individuals are innocent until proven guilty. This content does not constitute legal advice. Listeners are encouraged to consult with legal professionals for guidance.