After a human skull was found on the ground near Lake Mead four decades ago, investigators have finally identified those remains. The skull belongs to a San Diego nurse who disappeared in 1986 after unknowingly attempting to break up with a serial killer who murdered multiple women after going on dates.
The woman was identified as Carol Ann Riley, who went missing when she was 42 years old while she was dating a man who was convicted in 1988 for murdering his ex-wife and another romantic partner. Riley’s skull was found on May 16, 1987, near Bonelli Landing at Lake Mead, and more remains were discovered in a nearby shallow grave, wrapped in a yellow blanket, according to the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office. At the time, investigators could not determine the identity of the remains.
Riley, who worked at Scripps Clinic in San Diego, had a date planned with a man she knew as Robert Howard Smith, the sheriff’s office said. Riley told her friends that she planned to break up with him during their date on April 5, 1986. The woman’s father, John Riley, said he spoke with Carol hours before the date and never heard from her again, the North County Times reported…