Mike Riemer's skull found

[everybodylovesrs]

Thought it deserved its own thread.

By KING 5 News and Associated Press
KING5

CHEHALIS, Wash. - The skull found by a hiker March 26 near Mineral has been identified as from a Pierce County man who disappeared in 1985 with his girlfriend.

The Lewis County sheriff's office says Michael Lloyd Riemer was 36 when he and 21-year-old Diana Robertson were reported missing. Their 2-year-old daughter was found alone in a Spanaway store the same day.

Robertson's remains were found in 1986 on an abandoned logging road within a mile of where the skull was found.

Information on the case aired on the television show, Unsolved Mysteries, in 1989 and generated numerous tips over the years as to the whereabouts of Riemer. Riemer was a person of interest in the death of Robertson as he had not been located after Robertson's body was found and his whereabouts were still unknown.

Lewis and Pierce County detectives are investigating. If you have information about this case you are asked to call the Lewis County Sheriff's Office at (360) 748-9286 or Crime Stoppers 1-800-748-6422.

[everybodylovesrs]

"His skull was found within a mile of where Robertson's remains had been located.

Read more: http://blog.thenewstribune.com/crime...#ixzz1JKq4K2c5
"

[crystaldawn]

That is very interesting!! His skull was only a mile away. I wonder how extensive the searching was for him when Diana's body was found. I still tend to think he killed Diana. Its very possible a cause of death won't be determined but I wouldn't be surprised to hear he murdered Diana and then killed himself.

[biscuitgirl]

Originally Posted by crystaldawn

That is very interesting!! His skull was only a mile away. I wonder how extensive the searching was for him when Diana's body was found. I still tend to think he killed Diana. Its very possible a cause of death won't be determined but I wouldn't be surprised to hear he murdered Diana and then killed himself.

If that's the case, then he killed Diana, took the child to the supermarket and dropped her off, then went back to Diana, left the vehicle there and walked a mile then killed himself. If I remember correctly, wasn't Diana found with the vehicle? Very strange case indeed. Unfortunately it still doesn't shed a lot of light on the case, but at least we know he isn't alive somewhere living off the land.

[DarkDante]

Originally Posted by crystaldawn

That is very interesting!! His skull was only a mile away. I wonder how extensive the searching was for him when Diana's body was found. I still tend to think he killed Diana. Its very possible a cause of death won't be determined but I wouldn't be surprised to hear he murdered Diana and then killed himself.

Yes he certainly wasn't portrayed in the best of lights on UM was he? Either way hopefully now his family can have some peace knowing what happened to their son.

It is strange how in many of these UM cases the remains turn up not far from where the police allegedly conducted a thorough investigation. The case of Dan Wilson would be another one to fall into that category. I always felt badly for Dan's family having to wonder for years whether or not he was wandering across the country suffering from amnesia when his remains were actually found not far from where he disappeared in the first place.

Makes you think about other cases (Patricia Meehan) where the individual might have perished not too long after they initially vanished.

[TheCars1986]

Originally Posted by biscuitgirl

If that's the case, then he killed Diana, took the child to the supermarket and dropped her off, then went back to Diana, left the vehicle there and walked a mile then killed himself. If I remember correctly, wasn't Diana found with the vehicle? Very strange case indeed. Unfortunately it still doesn't shed a lot of light on the case, but at least we know he isn't alive somewhere living off the land.

Yes, I agree about this case being very strange. If Riemer did in fact kill Diana, he would have driven the 45 or so minute trip out of the woods (after killing Diana) to drop Crystal off only to go the same way back to the exact spot that he killed Diana, ditched his truck, then wandered away and killed himself. This case is almost identical to the Ruth Cooper/Stephen Harkins murders that was also brought up in the UM segment on Diana and Riemer. Cooper and Harkins were found a mile and a half apart from each other. I really hope they'll be able to determine a cause of death or at least rule something out in terms of Riemer's remains.

[RobinW]

Wow, this is pretty exciting news! This is one of my all-time favourite UM cases and after 25 years, I wasn't sure if any progress was ever going to be made.

Alas, this one can still only be lumped into "Half Solved Mysteries" category since it doesn't really shed any light onto what actually happened. I wonder if this recent turn of events will prompt authorities to approach Crystal again. Finding out who dropped her off at that store is the key to figuring out this case. I wonder if hypnosis would help uncover that memory, but she seeing as how she was only 2 years old at the time, it's probably impossible for her to remember anything at all. Either way, I'd really like to know what she's up to these days.

[Apostapler]

Finally, something new about this case! I always thought he was dead.

[Gelatinous Goo]

Originally Posted by DarkDante

Makes you think about other cases (Patricia Meehan) where the individual might have perished not too long after they initially vanished.

I was going to say the same thing. Poor Patty Meehan. I'm sure she's out there in the Montana "badlands", a beautiful but unforgiving area.

[ScaryFog]

Thanks for the update! Very strange case.

[kane7474]

WOW This is unreal. Im so glad we have an update to this case. They say the skull was found within a mile of Diane. I just wonder what happened and who took Crystal to the store

[Hambone2421]

Unbelievable that it was found this many years later. I always thought he was dead as someone who is gone for that long with no reported sightings always makes me think they are dead.

[castiron]

I live in the area but had not heard of the story until recently, because it's now the talk of the town!

It was interesting to find so much about the case online. It didn't take me long to get up to speed on such an amazing mystery.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/0...rylink=rss_xml

Here is a very good news article about the recent find. I noticed that they can not determine anything about Riemer's death from the skull. It also mentions that the grandmother noticed a big difference in Crystal after she was found.

She told The News Tribune she sensed her granddaughter had seen something or knew something.

“She’s always looking around,” Conrad said at the time. “She’s withdrawn. Her personality definitely isn’t the same.”

It also mentioned Riemer's father passed away in 1993.

And here is a video clip about the discovery. It mentions that Crystal is living nearby in Tacoma, has a child, and is not making a public statement at this time.

http://www.king5.com/news/Skull-near...119705239.html

Now for my input. The town of Elbe is both on the way to Mt. Rainier National park, a hot spot for winter hiking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and innertubing. So a lot of tourists do go thru the town on the way to the mountain for winter activities. There are a few restaurants and mom & pop convenience stores in Elbe and it is often used as a bathroom stop. There are no public restrooms available (one is actually currently being built) but people would stop any way, sometimes the restaurant would let people use the bathroom--I'm not sure what the policy was in 1983. My point is that a lot of people would be around the area, even in winter.

The town of Elbe is also on the way to the national forests where one could (after buying a permit) chop down a Christmas tree. There are also many tree farms in the area, where you can buy a tree--they chop it down right there on the farm for you.

The town of Elbe is also right next to the Nisqually river, where Riemer had his traps set. You can walk down to the river from the main highway. The Nisqually empties into Alder Lake, which is just on the other side of Elbe. You can access that lake also from the town and the highway.

I did not see the UM episode but someone mentioned the re-inactment involved a boat. There's nothing in the articles referring to a boat at all, so I don't know why that was included on UM. The area of the Nisqually river near Elbe is very rocky, I just can't see someone casually launching a boat at that area. Farther up or farther down, yes, but not near where his truck was found.

The logging road where the truck was found, was further up into the woods, beyond the river. This is where Riemer's friends didn't even think of searching, they just searched where they knew his traps were set. The town of Mineral and Elbe are next to each other, I live here and don't even know where the official boundary is, it is mostly wooded area between the 2 towns. What complicates the case is that even tho the towns are so close to each other, they are in different counties. Elbe is in the large Pierce county, along with Tacoma, Puyallup, Spanaway. The town of Mineral is in the poorer and much smaller Lewis County.

Now about the Kmart in Spanaway. There are 2 ways to reach Elbe. The shortest way from Puyallup is on the Mountain Highway, thru South Hill, thru Graham, and then thru Eatonville. I imagine Riemer and Robinson took this route to get to Elbe, since they lived in Puyallup. It is the shortest distance. The other way would not only be out of their way, but the road is curvier, has several hairpin turns you have to slow down to 10 MPH to navigate and takes a lot longer.

The second way is on Highway 7, thru Spanaway, past the other side of Eatonville (you don't actually pass thru that town, tho there are roads you can take to get you there), past Alder, and then into Elbe. At Elbe, you either turn right to go to Mineral or stay straight to go to Mt. Rainier.

Now, whoever dropped off Crystal at the Spanaway Kmart most likely took Highway 7. In 1983 much of the area was the boonies, the sticks and was not built up at all. It is still not built up very much. It's a 2-lane road, very curvy, hair-pin turns, with trees and rock formations towering on both sides. Not far from Elbe is the tiny town of Alder, don't blink, oh, you just missed it kind of town. A post office and convenience store is about all there is. After Alder you drive and drive and drive and think you're almost to Spanaway but no, it's a clearing with some estates (farms or houses with a lot of acreage) but still no town. Drive and drive, the road seems endless.

Now, I'm not sure exactly, since it was 1983, but I'm guessing that Kmart was the very first strip mall or shopping center once you finally got into Spanaway after the long drive on the 7. There may have been a store here, a gas station here, but the area before Kmart even now is mostly auto repair and junk yards. I believe at that time, next to the Kmart was also a grocery store and also a Dairy Queen was on the other side of the parking lot.

I can speculate the person taking Crystal on his/her way back to town. Took the 7 either because he/she didn't know it was the long way back, was aiming toward the Spanaway side vs. the Puyallup side, or wanted the privacy of the less-traveled, more rural route. I can imagine wondering what to do with the child on this long drive back to "civilization." The Kmart shopping center would provide a place to use the bathroom, maybe clean up?, and drop the child off somewhere busy enough not to be seen doing it but also where the child would be found. [I shudder at the thought of the person having instead left the child anywhere else, either back at Elbe or anywhere from Elbe to Spanaway, where it was mostly forest. The poor child would have probably wandered lost among the trees and never have been found.]

I also speculate maybe the person initially went to one of the other stores, or even the Dairy Queen. Maybe promise the child something to eat, sat her down at a table, got up to use the restroom and slipped out. And then Crystal, not knowing what to do, wandered over to the Kmart. I believe she was found outside in the parking lot, not inside the store. I've wondered if the police questioned employees in the neighboring stores also when they found her at the Kmart.

I actually shop at that Kmart. Now there are huge Walmarts that most people go to, I guess I'm a hold-out and go to the near empty Kmart. It will certainly be creepy the next time I go there now that I know the story.

[Kane]

Originally Posted by Apostapler

Finally, something new about this case! I always thought he was dead.

I wasn't surprised when it was confirmed that Mike Riemer was in fact dead. Now the question is whether or not he killed Diana and/or the other two people. Regardless, I am currently inclined to believe that Diana Robertson, Ruth Cooper, and Stephen Harkins were killed by the same person. But whether it was Michael Riemer or a third party is, of course, anybody's guess.

Although the theory of Michael Riemer being the killer carries some weight, I recall that, during an interivew in the UM segment, his father was convinced that he was innocent. Michael "Lloyd" Riemer, Sr. mentioned that Mike's coat was in the truck, adding that there were at least two or three miles to walk out of the area before reaching a main road. Since Mike and Diana's disappearances occurred in the month of December, Michael Sr. wasn't convinced that Mike would have left his coat behind if he had killed Diana. Needless to say, he was convinced that his son was dead. In fact, I still remember him saying, "they got him first."

Sadly, Michael Sr. didn't live long enough to find out what had happened to his son. He died in 1993.

[sdb4884]

Thanks for the update, it sheds some light on the case finally.