After her arrest in Texas, a Minnesota woman allegedly tied to two murders in two states, will first face charges in Florida, according to the sheriff in Dodge County, Minnesota.
Fifty-six-year-old Lois Riess is being held in the Cameron County jail in South Texas on Florida charges that include murder with a firearm. Dodge County Sheriff Scott Rose says she wouldn't be there if it wasn't for an extraordinary combination of surveillance video that led to some very timely tips.
"That technology was huge for us in being able to apprehend her," Rose said. "There are cases in the past that have gone years and years and years without being able to come to a close because they haven't been able to identify that person."
Rose says investigators were concerned that Riess hadn't surfaced in several days before her arrest, and tracking her through credit cards, cell phone and even license plate readers hadn't proven useful.
"She wasn't doing a lot of communicating with anybody," Rose said. "Frankly, we had to kind of go old school from the standpoint of getting her information out to the public and getting the public involved in trying to help locate her."
Rose says Riess is suspected in the shooting death of David Riess, whose body was found at their home in Blooming Prairie, Minnesota, in late March.
Investigators believe Lori Riess then fled to Florida where she killed Pamela Hutchinson in Fort Myers Beach, intending to steal her identity.
Authorities arrested Riess on Thursday at a Texas Gulf Coast restaurant, and the men who spotted her said they recognized her because of her mannerisms, including the way she flipped her hair.
"You can walk through any store and find a half dozen people who match her description. But if you can pair that with the mannerisms, the walk, the way she talks," Rose said. "It just makes such a huge difference versus just showing a mugshot and saying 'This is who we're looking for.'"