Extradition Underway To Get Fugitive Grandma Caught In Texas To Minnesota
MANTORVILLE, Minn. (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — She was caught and finally arrested at a waterfront restaurant in South Padre Island, now officials in Minnesota have started the extradition process to bring the woman known as the fugitive grandma back to face more murder charges.
Lois Riess was convicted of killing her look-alike in Florida after allegedly murdering her husband in Minnesota. Now sheriff's want to get her from the Sunshine State back up north to face trial.
Riess, 57, pleaded guilty Tuesday to killing Pamela Hutchinson in Florida. Prosecutors say the two women shared similar features and that Riess wanted to assume Hutchinson's identity while on the lam following her husband's death.
Sheriff Scott Rose in Minnesota's Dodge County said on Facebook that the extradition process could take months.
Riess, with her long, white hair, garnered national attention as the "fugitive grandma" who led authorities on a cross-country manhunt before someone recognized her from surveillance video shown on TV and she was captured in April 2018 in Texas. She was drinking cocktails at the restaurant bar when she was taken into custody.
Her saga began in March 2018, when her husband, 54-year-old David Riess, was found dead at the couple's Minnesota, home. Lois Riess forged checks to steal $11,000 from her husband's account, traveled south to Florida and landed in Fort Myers where she met Hutchinson, prosecutors said.
Riess waived extradition after pleading guilty in Hutchinson's death. She was sentenced to life in prison for that killing.
(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)