MINNEAPOLIS _ "It feels good" to have Minnesota fugitive Lois Riess in custody, a U.S. marshal said Friday, hours after the arrest of the gambling grandmother wanted for murders in two states.
Riess, 56, was apprehended without incident Thursday night at a restaurant in South Padre Island, Texas, after a restaurant worker who had seen her picture on news reports called in a description of Riess and her car.
At a Friday news conference to announce the arrest, John Kinsey, deputy U.S. marshal in Florida, declined to name the establishment where two deputy U.S. marshals from Brownsville and South Padre Island officers took Riess into custody about 8:25 p.m., but South Padre Island Police Chief Randy Smith said she was arrested at the Sea Ranch Restaurant and Bar.
Riess was being held in jail in Texas while authorities from the Dodge County Sheriff's Office, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the state attorney in Florida work to determine where her next stop will be: either Minnesota, where she allegedly killed her husband in late March, or Florida, where she is accused of killing a 59-year-old woman and stealing her identity.
Florida seem to be the most likely venue for Riess to be tried first as authorities there have already charged her with murder, grand theft of a motor vehicle, and grand theft and criminal use of personal identification. Second-degree charges in Dodge County are still pending, said Sheriff Scott Rose.
"We are taking time to build the strongest case against Lois Riess for David Riess' murder," Rose said during a news conference Friday. "This is a tragic and devastating time for both families."
Asked about his reaction about Lois Riess' capture, Rose simply said "relieved."
The nation had been on alert since authorities began looking for Lois Riess since March 23 when police found her husband, David, shot to death in the couple's Blooming Prairie home. The search intensified after police found her second victim in a Fort Myers Beach condo on April 9. Authorities said Riess targeted the victim identified as Pamela Hutchinson because they had similar appearances.
In recent days, publicity about the case hit newspapers and TV stations nationwide, and billboards with Riess' face went up across five southwestern states. That generated hundreds of tips, including Thursday's, which led deputies to the grandmother of five.
Authorities feared if they didn't catch her soon that the "stone-cold killer" may strike again, said Lee County Undersheriff Carmine Marceno.
"She can't strike again and that was our main concern," he said Friday after Riess' arrest. "There is a sense of relief that a killer is off the street."
South Padre Island Police Chief Randy Smith said Riess had stopped at one restaurant in the city about 40 miles from the Mexican border, but decided not to eat there. It was at that establishment that a worker recognized her and called authorities.
A short time later, Riess _ clad in a yellow tank top _ was arrested at the Sea Ranch.
"She knew it was coming," Kinsey said. "She was not surprised and offered no resistance."
Authorities found the stolen white Acura she was spotted driving in Florida and several other states in the past week. She apparently was staying in a hotel in South Padre Island, but it was not immediately known if she had registered under her own name, Pamela Hutchinson or another name, Kinsey said.
Authorities were going to search the room and car Friday to gather evidence, Kinsey said.
There also was no word about the whereabouts of the gun used in the killings, he said.
Lois Riess' cross-county escapades began March 23 after Dodge County Sheriff's deputies found David Riess' body. That day, authorities believe she drove from Blooming Prairie to Glenville, Minn., where she went to a bank and cashed $10,000 in stolen and forged checks from her husband and his business. She was seen later that evening approaching the cashier at a gas station next to the Diamond Jo Casino in Northwood, Iowa. She bought a sandwich, and asked for directions south of the state after gambling at the casino, Rose said.
Authorities were tipped off to her presence, but arrived too late to arrest her.
About 10 days later, Riess, dubbed "Losing Streak Lois" because of her penchant for gambling and visiting casinos, was spotted in Fort Myers Beach. Video surveillance showed her eating at the Smokin' Oyster Brewery on Old San Carlos Boulevard and chatting with a woman later identified Hutchinson.
Authorities say she killed Hutchinson in unit 404 of the Marina Village condo and took off with her white Acura, cash, credit cards and identity.
Before leaving Fort Myers Beach, Riess stopped at a Wells Fargo Bank and used Hutchinson's ID to make an over-the-counter cash withdrawal of $5,000, a spokesman for the Lee County Sheriff's Office said.
Riess was spotted on April 6 at a hotel in Ocala, Fla. and used Hutchinson's ID and credit card to pay for a room. She also made another cash withdrawal from Hutchinson's bank account.
Between April 7 and 8, Riess was spotted at casinos in Louisiana. Most recently she had been seen on April 8 north of Corpus Christi.
She had avoided authorities until Thursday night.
"No matter where she went, where she hid, we were going to get her," Marceno said.
News of Riess' arrest brought joy to Daniele Watts Jeffreys, one of Hutchinson's cousins, and some closure to the family.
"I am so happy, I am so happy," she said in a phone interview. "We didn't want anybody else to be hurt and now that she's in custody she won't. We still have to go through the judicial system and hopefully that won't fail us."
From the outset, Marceno called the case "odd." It includes theft, two killings and many pieces of a puzzle to put together.
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. Dodge County Sheriff Rose didn't say if that or gambling debts may have played a role in Riess' killing spree.
"Investigators will determine if gambling played a role," he said.
