MINNEAPOLIS _ Federal authorities on Tuesday dangled a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest of a 56-year-old southern Minnesota woman accused of killing her husband, fleeing the state and killing a woman in Florida in order to assume her identity.
Lois A. Riess, of rural Blooming Prairie, was last spotted in southern Texas, far from the Dodge County farm home where 54-year-old husband David Riess was found dead in late March.
For anyone inspired by the reward offered by the U.S. Marshal's Service, be warned: Riess is "considered armed and dangerous, and should not be approached," the reward announcement read. "Anyone who sees her should call 911."
Authorities added that Riess could well be driving the car of the woman she's accused of killing, 59-year-old Pamela Hutchinson, of Fort Myers Beach, Fla. It is a white 2005 Acura TL with Florida license plate Y37TAA.
Riess is described as white, 5 feet 5 inches tall and 165 pounds with brown eyes and blond hair, which is now lighter than in the photo that authorities have circulated over social media and through news outlets.
Authorities believe Riess, who fled Minnesota after allegedly shooting and killing her husband, targeted Hutchinson because the two women looked alike, then stole her identity after killing her. Police say the same gun was used in both slayings.
Lee County (Fla.) Undersheriff Carmine Marceno said Monday night that Riess "could look like anybody's mother or grandmother. She smiles, yet she is a coldblooded killer."
Lois Riess transferred nearly $10,000 from her husband's business account into his personal account and then forged his signature on three checks to herself for $11,000, according to theft charges recently filed in Minnesota. She then allegedly fled the state in the family's Cadillac Escalade, stopping at an Iowa casino on her way to Florida.
On April 5, a snippet of surveillance video taken at a happy hour on April 5 at the Smokin' Oyster Brewery in Fort Myers shows Lois Riess talking to Hutchinson. Riess appears charming and animated, tossing her silver hair as she leans in and smiles and chats with her bar mate.
Investigators said that after Riess befriended Hutchinson, she killed the woman and stole her credit cards, cash and car. Other surveillance showed Riess at Hutchinson's condo.
As the hunt for Riess entered its fourth week Monday, new information about her past surfaced in court records in Minnesota that showed she had been accused of taking more than $78,000 from her disabled sister and spending it on herself, including thousands of dollars at casinos.
Florida authorities said late last week that they believed Riess most recently was in the Corpus Christi area in Texas, possibly driving a car she stole from Hutchinson, whose body was found April 9.
Marceno said Hutchinson's car had been spotted in Louisiana and around Corpus Christi in the days after Hutchinson's body was found.
In recent days, however, the search for Riess has gone cold. Marceno said that she will eventually run out of resources and fears that, in desperation, she could kill again.
Late last week, Florida authorities filed murder, grand theft of a motor vehicle and grand theft and criminal use of personal identification charges against Riess. She also faces second-degree murder charges in Dodge County.
Joining the Marshal's Office in pursuit of Riess are the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and the Dodge Lee County sheriff's offices.
