MINNEAPOLIS_The Florida woman found shot dead in her rented condo in Fort Myers Beach had paid for her killer's drinks and dinner just hours before.
A manager at the Smokin' Oyster Brewery confirmed that Pamela Hutchinson paid the bill that she and Minnesota fugitive Lois Riess ran up during their two-hour visit on the late afternoon of April 5.
That credit card transaction led investigators to the establishment, and revealed the surveillance video showing the two women enjoying happy hour that was widely publicized this week.
Investigators found the 59-year-old Hutchinson dead four days later in unit 404 of the Marina Village, but they have not been able to catch up to "Losing Streak Lois," who is the subject of a nationwide hunt.
Billboards put up in five southern states this week and new posters distributed Thursday by the U.S. marshal's Office have brought in more than 100 tips. But none has led to the woman believed to have killed her husband in Blooming Prairie in late March and Hutchinson earlier this month. There's also a $6,000 reward for information leading to Riess' arrest.
"We are getting a lot of tips right now, some credible, some not," said John Kinsey, deputy U.S. marshal in Florida. "It's very time consuming. We are going through all of them."
One theory that emerged Wednesday was that Riess had made her way to California and was involved in a bank robbery in Pasadena last weekend. But Kinsey said there was no evidence that linked Riess to the holdup.
Riess was last spotted north of Corpus Christi, Texas, on April 8. She was headed south on Hwy. 77, only a few hours from the Mexican border.
"Of course it is possible" she could have crossed into Mexico, "if the border is as porous going out as it is coming in," Kinsey said.
U.S. Border Patrol has been put on alert and Mexican authorities have been notified to be on the watch for anybody trying to use Hutchinson's ID, said Lee County Sheriff's Office spokesman Tony Schall.
Riess, who has a gambling problem and likes to visit casinos, began her cross-country escapades after she allegedly killed her husband, David, in their Blooming Prairie home in late March. She then drove the family's Escalade to Florida. The vehicle was found abandoned at Bowditch Point in Fort Myers Beach, the Lee County Sheriff's Office said.
Sometime after dining at the brewery, authorities believe Riess shot Hutchinson and made off with her cash, credit card, white Acura and identity. Lee County Undersheriff Carmine Marceno said Riess likely targeted Hutchinson because the two women have a striking resemblance.
The day after their dinner, April 6, Riess used Hutchinson's credit card to pay for a hotel room in Ocala, Fla., authorities said. Authorities also said Riess used Hutchinson's ID to make a $5,000 bank withdrawal from a Wells Fargo Bank and withdrew another $500 from Hutchinson's account while she was in Ocala. Riess tried to make a $200 purchase at a gas station in Louisiana, authorities said.
Lee County authorities have called Riess a "coldblooded killer," and this week U.S. marshals elevated the search for her to a "Major Case" status. That puts her among high-profile offenders considered to be some of the country's most dangerous individuals.
Riess has been charged with murder, with grand theft of a motor vehicle, and grand theft and criminal use of personal identification in Florida. Murder charges out of Dodge County are pending.
In 2016, Riess was replaced as guardian of her disabled sister and ordered to repay $100,534 that she took from her sister and spent at casinos, court records show.
Services for Hutchinson will be held next month in North Carolina, a family member said.
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