The Mysteries of Lake Mead - Part 4

Episode # 93 The Unsolved Mysteries of Lake Mead Part 4

[Shaun] 

In 1987, near Lake Mead at Bonelli Landing, a rancher discovered a human skull and remains wrapped in a yellow blanket and buried in a shallow grave. They became another unidentified Jane Doe, her identity lost to time.

[John] 

Nearly 40 years later, on July 15, 2025, forensic scientists matched dental records and confirmed that those remains belonged to San Diego nurse Carol Ann Riley, who vanished in 1986 after a date with a man later revealed to be serial murderer Robert Dean Weeks.

(Music - Pause for 8 seconds)

[Shaun] 

Hi, and welcome to Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas true crime podcast, where we focus on cases that deal with domestic violence, as well as missing persons and unsolved cases. I’m your host, Shaun

[John] 

And I’m your co-host, John.

[Shaun] 

Welcome to our final episode of season 2. We got some excellent feedback from listeners about our Lake Mead anthology episodes, so we were planning to bring you more Lake Mead stories next season.

Over the past few weeks, there have been several more interesting stories about Lake Mead, so with summer unfortunately coming to a close and season 2 sunsetting as well, we decided this was a great time to head back to the Lake. 

[John]

Like Shaun said, this will be our final episode of Season 2. Were going to be taking a break for the month of September, but we will be back in October for Domestic Violence Awareness Month with all new episodes.

We are exploring some changes to the format of the show. As you know we’ve started testing out video and we are thinking about how we can continue bring you quality cases and content on a regular basis, but also have the flexibility to bring you fresh episodes when a story we’ve covered has an update or there is breaking news in Las Vegas. 

One of those changes is that we will be moving to an “every other week” schedule. That way, we can dedicate more time to in-depth research on cases, but also have more time during the in-between weeks to bring you updates or breaking stories. 

We also have a concept for a true crime spin-off series that we will be working on as well. We are planning to have an update for you on that when the new season starts.

[Shaun] 

I’m really excited about that new project as well, so all next month, we’ll be working on developing these ideas and when we come back in October, we’ll be bringing you the same ethical true crime content as we have for nearly 100 episodes. Thank you all again for your support.

Back to this week, we have 2 major stories related to Lake Mead, one of which blends the 3 topics we cover most on the show - domestic violence, unsolved cases, and missing persons, but this is one of the few times we are also covering the story of a serial murderer. 

Before we get to that, we have a piece of sad news about Lake Mead. The vertical speedboat that we mentioned during the earlier episodes has been removed from the Lake by the National Park Service. 

The speedboat had been an unofficial indicator of the Lake’s water levels for at least 3 years, sticking up almost 15 feet in the air like an obelisk. But, as part of the “Love Lake Mead” project, it has been removed as part of an effort to clean up the shoreline debris.

Reports say it was ripped out of the lake in pieces. 

“We understand that some were curious about the abandoned boat in the Las Vegas Wash area. But the boat, like other abandoned boats, was also viewed as an eyesore and nuisance — and poorly represented the quality of boating recreation at Lake Mead,” Lake Mead Superintendent Mike Gauthier told 8 News Now.

[John]

Gauthier said he doesn’t want the visual for the lake to be abandoned boats; he wants it to be about folks having fun at the lake. And, given the reputation for Lake Mead, with all the stories we’ve covered so far and the dozens more we could cover, the lake needs all the help it can get to protect its reputation. 

According to Gauthier, they communicated with their recreation partners and businesses, and they agreed that removing trash, abandoned camps, and other debris “helps to restore and protect the grandeur of Lake Mead.”

Also, I did see a photo recently that showed that the boat had been spraypainted with a message to Governor Joe Lombardo about rent control, and I’m sure that was a factor in the decision to remove it.

The road leading to that part of the lake had been closed for about a year because people had been camping along that road and leaving trash behind.

Reporter Duncan Phenix of 8 News Now did an excellent job documenting the speedboat in 2022, including taking photos of the personal items that had sunk along with the boat, which included a teddy bear. There are some haunting photos of it, and we’ll be sharing those, and you can find a link to that reporting  in the show notes.

[Shaun]
I have such mixed feelings about this. The boat was almost like a piece of art and a monument to the receding water levels, but I can understand why it had become an eyesore and dangerous, because I bet people would want to explore it. 

Not to mention, that’s our drinking water reservoir, and it’s a really bad look to have trash in the lake be a sort of tourist attraction. 

We also continue to deal with the water levels of the lake. It’s predicted by June of 2027 that the level will be at its shallowest since the lake was created in the 1930s, and for the 5th year in a row, Nevada’s access share of the Lake’s water has been cut. This year, it’s another 7%. Right now, there are about 40 million people who rely on the Colorado River for water, and it’s not really clear what else we can do here locally to cut our usage.

So, I guess we’ll see. We’ll see what the next few years bring.

The summer isn’t quite over yet, so we don’t have any finalized data on to whether or not Lake Mead continues to be one of the most dangerous parks, but like I said, this is a popular topic, so I think next season we’ll do another anthology episode and we’ll be sure to update you on anything we’ve covered.

Let’s move on to the cases we have for you for this episode. 

[John]

Our main case this week begins at Lake Mead, of course, with the discovery of unidentified remains, and this case stretches across decades. It’s about Carol Ann Riley, and two other women, Patricia Weeks and Cynthia Jabour, who were all connected to one man: Robert Weeks.

The story begins at Bonelli Landing on Lake Mead which is on the south side of the lake on the Arizona side. 

Like most of the areas around Lake Mead, Bonelli Landing is known for hiking, fishing, and camping, and it’s a spot where you can launch a boat and enjoy some time out on the lake. It’s considered more remote and rugged than the other parts of the LM recreation area. It’s more deserted with fewer amenities. 

On May 16, 1987, a cattle rancher was rounding up steer in Bonelli Landing when he spotted something pale in the dust. As he came closer, he realized it was a human skull. 

Investigators searching the immediate area found more bones, partially buried and wrapped in a yellow blanket. It was obvious the person had not just wandered into the desert and died naturally. 

The rancher had stumbled upon a hidden grave and likely a crime scene. 

Detectives collected, recorded, and catalogued the scene. They reported that the remains likely belonged to a white female, between 20 and 40 years old, 5’3”–5’7”, between 105–120 pounds, with light brown hair. 

They were unable to identify her, and she was logged into case files as a Jane Doe.

As part of their efforts to identify her, a forensic odontologist cataloged her dental work and uploaded it into NamUs, the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, but there was no match. 

In 2011, investigators thought they might have a lead and a possible match with a missing woman from Texas, but unfortunately, the dental comparison came back negative. 

Scientists at the University of North Texas attempted to build a DNA profile from the degraded bones and entered those results into CODIS, the FBI’s national database, but there was no match to any profiles (keeping in mind that CODIS contains profiles from convicted offenders, unsolved crime scene evidence, and missing or unidentified persons.. So all that means is she wasn't already in that system)

When technology improved and investigators saw how genetic genealogy was able to solve case after case, they attempted to get her DNA re-analyzed, but the sample was too degraded. Even worse, they found out that in 2016 that her skeletal remains had been cremated and her ashes scattered, so there was no chance of getting a new DNA analysis from the bones.

In 2024 they attempted to test the fabric of the clothing and the blanket for touch DNA, but those efforts failed as well

It was starting to look like this victim would never be identified.  With no remains left to test, the investigation was at a complete standstill.

[Shaun]
Then, against the odds, came a breakthrough. Just last month, on July 15, 2025, the California Department of Justice’s Missing Persons Unit, working with a forensic odontologist, confirmed a dental match: Jane Doe was identified as Carol Ann Riley, a nurse from San Diego who had vanished in 1986. 

The identification came almost forty years after her disappearance and with that, investigators confirmed what many had long suspected, that Carol was among the victims of Robert Dean Weeks.

Carol grew up in Michigan and had graduated from the University of Michigan with her nursing degree, and moved to Colorado for work after graduation. Friends and coworkers described her as dependable, compassionate, and devoted to her patients. According to her mom, Marjorie, her good nature was her “downfall.” 

In 1983, while Carol was working the night shift at a hospital in Longmont, Colorado, she met a man named Robert Howard Smith. He was recovering from a broken leg, and he was in tremendous pain, to the point where he was threatening to jump out the window.

Carol wheeled his bed out to the nurse’s station, and she was able to calm him down. As a result, Robert said that she had saved his life, and that he wanted to do something for her, and so, the two started dating. 

He convinced her to move to San Diego, and she started working as a nurse at the Scripps Clinic. 

By April of 1986, Carol was no longer dating Robert and hadn’t ben for at least 4 or 5 months. According to reporting in the Arizona Daily Star, they had broken up, and Carol was engaged to a doctor named Calvin Zen, who lived back in Longmont. 

On Friday, April 5, 1986, Carol planned to have dinner with Robert, for what sounds like a farewell dinner. At noon that day, she chatted with her parents, John and Marjorie, who said that she sounded very bubbly and happy. She was excited for her upcoming wedding. 

At dinner, Carol was planning to tell Robert that she was moving back to Colorado to get married. She told her friend Sheila about the date as well and mentioned that she was not looking forward to the awkward conversation.

Based on this limited context, it sounds like Robert was in denial about the breakup, and Carol was about to make it very clear that they were over and that she was moving on. 

That day, she kept her usual routine. She worked at the clinic, and around 5:30PM she phoned her boss to update him. 

But after that, no one heard from her. Her coworkers knew something was wrong almost immediately because Carol would call to check on her patients twice a day. Calvin had been calling her condo, but there was no answer. 

John, her dad, called Robert that day, and he said that Carol had stood him up and he hadn’t seen her. Her parents and Calvin contacted the police, and hired a private investigator on April 7. 

There was some reporting that a waitress had seen Carol at the restaurant, alone, but aside from talking to her boss at 5:30 Friday evening, there was no trace of her. 

On April 8, her Pontiac Fiero was found abandoned in the Hanalei hotel parking lot in Mission Valley, San Diego. Shortly after that, the private investigator discovered “Robert Smith” was not who he said he was. He was actually Robert Dean Weeks, a man with a long history of jealous rage and violence.

But, Robert himself had also vanished. He told his roommate on April 7 that he was leaving on business, and he dropped completely off the radar. 

[John]
Robert Weeks had a terrifying past. His first marriage to Patricia Weeks ended in 1968. She had endured years of abuse, with her doctor treating her for severe injuries several times. 

Her children also clearly recall violence in their home, and when Patricia finally divorced him in April 1968, the court granted her custody of their four kids. 

Just two weeks later, Patricia vanished. Her car was found abandoned. Weeks told his children that their mother had “deserted” them, but of course, her family and friends never believed that. She never would have left her four daughters behind, but she was never seen again.

Twelve years later, in October 1980, another woman connected to Robert Weeks disappeared. Cynthia Jabour was a successful Las Vegas real estate agent who had been dating Weeks for six years. At the time, Weeks was living in Las Vegas, working in business ventures that included limousine services and odd jobs. Just like Carol, Cynthia confided to friends that she was planning to end things. 

On October 5, 1980, Cynthia was seen in the lobby of Robert’s condominium at 10:30 PM. She had dinner plans with him. The next day, her car was found abandoned at Caesars Palace. 

Does that sound familiar? Just like Carol, she had a date planned with Robert, she was planning to end their relationship, she disappeared, and her abandoned car was found at a hotel. 

Friends entered her apartment and found her expensive clothing, financial accounts, and securities untouched so it was obvious she definitely had not just “run away”. 

Robert claimed she had canceled their dinner plans, but when detectives asked him to take a polygraph, he skipped it and fled to Tijuana, then Chile, and re-entered the U.S. months later with a Libyan passport. Cynthia’s body has never been recovered. 

By the time Carol disappeared in 1986, the pattern was pretty clear. Patricia in 1968, Cynthia in 1980, Carol in 1986, with each woman trying to leave Robert, and each one vanishing. 

Investigators knew he was dangerous, but he continued to evade capture. He reinvented himself constantly with new names and new businesses. 

In 1987, he was living Tucson, Arizona as “Charles F. Stolzenberg,” and running a novelty ashtray company called Snuff It. For years, police couldn’t catch him and the people closest to him had no idea of the past he had left behind in Las Vegas and San Diego. 

[Shaun]
I know we called this episode “Unsolved Mysteries of Lake Mead” but this story was actually featured on the TV show Unsolved Mysteries. (shout out to Robin?)

In May of 1987, the show aired a segment on the cases of Patricia, Cynthia, and Carol. They described the three missing women, all last connected to Robert Weeks. The episode reached millions of viewers. 

In Tucson, Robert’s current girlfriend recognized him on the screen. The very next day—May 26, 1987—police arrested him at his business. The arresting officer approached him and said, “Hi Robert” and when Robert, who was using the alias “Charles” responded, the police knew they had found him. 

After nearly two decades, the man who had eluded accountability was finally behind bars. Marjorie, Carol’s mom, would later say that Robert finally being caught had probably saved his current girlfriend’s life. 

Another interesting coincidence: one of the officers who arrested Robert was that girlfriend’s ex-husband.

One of Robert’s friends who was later interviewed stated that Robert himself had watched the Unsolved Mysteries broadcast but he didn’t think any of his friends would be watching. 

In 1988, Weeks stood trial in Las Vegas for the murders of Patricia Weeks and Cynthia Jabour. Even without their bodies, prosecutors built a strong case. Patricia’s doctor testified about injuries consistent with abuse, and their children described seeing him assault their mother. A prison informant, a convicted bank robber, testified that Robert admitted to killing multiple women and burying them in the desert.

They also presented his diaries, which included chilling entries about Cynthia, like the one that read, “You have humiliated me beyond belief. I will even the score.” The jury also heard about Carol’s disappearance, though she was not formally part of the charges, to establish a pattern.

On April 22, 1988, the jury convicted Weeks on two counts of first-degree murder—the first murder convictions in Nevada history without the victims’ bodies. On July 1, 1988, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Weeks appealed, but in 1990, the Nevada Supreme Court upheld the conviction. Weeks died behind bars in 1996, at the age of 68. 

He never revealed where he put Patricia's or Cynthia’s bodies.

[John]

In addition to these 3 women, Robert is also believed to be responsible for the disappearance and death of his business partner Jim Shaw, a 41-year-old man who disappeared from Las Vegas in May of 1971

On the day Jim disappeared, he was seen arguing with Robert. Later, he worked a swing shift at Whittlesea Cab company, at the southeast corner of Tropicana and Paradise. His son arrived at work at 11:30 PM and said goodnight when Jim left work.

About an hour later, his car, a beige Ford Galaxy, was found abandoned in an alley off of Maryland Parkway, between Desert Inn and Sahara, near Karen. Back in 1971, the area west of the alley was all open desert. 

Inside the car were bloodstains, and Jim has not been seen since. 

For these three families, the years have stretched on with no answers, no remains, no graves, and no closure . 

After decades of failed leads, when Carol’s name was restored, it was bittersweet for Patricia and Cynthia’s loved ones. Patricia’s granddaughter, Sarah Bowie, told the Review-Journal that Carol’s identification gave her hope her grandmother might also be found. 

She even theorized Patricia could be in Lake Mead. She described how the trauma has lasted across generations. Another relative said detectives had collected DNA swabs from elderly family members years ago, showing how long they’d worked to solve the cases. For them, Carol’s identification proved that answers can come, even after nearly 40 years.

[Shaun]

This story shows, again, how dangerous it is to leave an abusive partner. For Carol, it took nearly forty years for her remains to be identified. For Patricia and Cynthia and Jim, their bodies have never been found. Weeks is dead, but the families are still waiting for answers. If anyone has any information, we urge you to reach out to Las Vegas Metro. 

The next story we have this week is one about Lake Mead that John and I have been talking about all week. 

[John]

Just recently, on Sunday, July 27th, a 42-year-old man (whose name was never disclosed by the media, which kind of gives away the ending here) was celebrating a family member’s birthday on Lake Mead.

Specifically, they sailed over to the Kingman Wash, which is on the Arizona side of Lake Mead. It was 105 or 106 degrees all that week, which is dangerous anywhere, but particularly dangerous on or near the lake because you get not only the heat but also the reflection off the lake. People often underestimate how hot it can be out there. 

When the party was winding down around 7 pm, the man’s family couldn't locate him.. So they decided to … head back to the Nevada side of the Lake and go home and “leave him some supplies,” which is WILD to me. I’ll have more to say about that in the Swing Shift episode, so visit sinspod.co/subscribe so you can hear that. 

Even stranger, and more concerning, is the fact that they didnt report him missing until around noon on monday, and when they DID report him missing it was just to the National Park Service, not the appropriate local sheriff’s office, who would work with the NPS to coordinate S&R. Its not clear from the reporting what if any search efforts were undertaken by NPS on that Monday

You may say to yourself, “How would they know who to call?” but I was curious how hard it was to figure that out, and it took me about 5 minutes (I’ll talk about that process in the Swing Shift Episode too)

Well fortunately for this man, there was another, unrelated missing person that was called into the Mohave County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday, July 29th, and they got a search and rescue operation underway, looking for a 60-year-old motorist that had become stranded near Bonelli Bay.  

That’s not particularly close to Kingman Wash, but luckily, MCSO found the motorist and then called it in to NPS search and rescue.

When they spoke, NPS told the caller from the Sheriff’s office about the original report of a man missing in Kingman Wash, and the Sheriff’s office search and rescue headed to that area with an NPS ranger to look for him, noting that now this man had been missing for about 40 hours in the daily 106-degree heat.

When they got to the landing area in Kingman wash, they met some fishermen who told the ranger and the sheriffs that they were able to hear someone screaming for help, saying they needed water, but they couldn't see him.

The S&R team was finally able to locate him on a steep incline west of the landing with no shirt, no shoes, no foo, and no water. 

They got him down the incline after giving him water and electrolytes and got him on a boat back to the NV side of the lake on an NPS boat.

It was a happy ending with some really weird circumstances, and if we learn any more details about it, we’ll be sure to share them.

[Shaun]

Like you said, that story is bizarre, and we are so grateful for the search and rescue teams who were able to save both those men. I’m sure everyone listening to these episodes recognizes how dangerous Lake Mead can be, and honestly, I don’t think you can prepare too much or be too careful when it comes to the extreme heat. 

Also, even though it’s been 50 plus years that Jim Shaw, Patricia Weeks and Cynthia Jabour have been missing, if you have any information regarding their disappearances, please reach out to Las Vegas Metro at (702) 828-2907 or you can email them at missingpersonscoldcase@LVMPD.com. 

You can also contact Crimestoppers at 702-385-5555 or visit crimestoppersofnv.com. 

Thank you again for all of your support over 2 years of content and nearly 100 episodes.

[John]

We will be back in a few weeks. Till then remember, what happens here, happens everywhere.