MINNEAPOLIS _ Lois Riess, the Minnesota grandmother with a gambling addiction, was caught Thursday night in south Texas, far from where she allegedly killed her husband and days later a look-alike victim in Florida, according to the U.S. Marshals Service and the Dodge County Sheriff's Office.
Riess was arrested without incident in a restaurant in the resort area at 8:25 p.m. by two deputy marshals, said John Kinsey, deputy U.S. marshal.
Billboards put up in five Southern states this week and new posters distributed Thursday by the Marshals Service brought in more than 100 tips. Riess is believed to have killed her husband in Blooming Prairie, Minn., in late March and Pamela Hutchinson earlier this month. There was also a $6,000 reward for information leading to Riess' arrest.
"We are getting a lot of tips right now, some credible, some not," Kinsey said earlier Thursday. "It's very time consuming. We are going through all of them."
Riess was last seen north of Corpus Christi, Texas, on April 8. She was headed south on Hwy. 77, only a few hours from the Mexican border.
Riess, who 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 Park in Fort Myers Beach, the Lee County Sheriff's Office said.
Sometime after dining at the brewery, authorities allege 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 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 offenders considered to be some of the country's most dangerous individuals.
Riess has been charged with murder, 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.
