By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Learning the identity of the man whose skull was found recently near Mineral now means revisiting decades-old cases, including a missing person, a stabbing death and possibly the homicides of another couple.
Michael L. Riemer and Diana K. Robertson
The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office this morning said the skull discovered March 26 in a wooded area north of Mineral belongs to Michael Lloyd Riemer, a Pierce County man who was reported missing in December 1985.
Riemer’s significant other, Diana K. Robertson, went missing at the same time from Pierce County, and her body was found the following February. The 21-year-old woman’s death was determined to be a homicide and Riemer was considered a person of interest, according to authorities.
The sheriff’s office doesn’t yet know if Riemer died at his own hands or someone else’s, Chief Deputy Stacy Brown said today.
“We don’t know. In fact, it doesn’t really help or change the investigation because there are still so many unknowns,” Brown said.
The sheriff’s office announced the find two weeks ago, saying a partial skull was found by someone hiking in the Mineral area.
It was actually discovered by a man on property where he lives, on an abandoned logging road that goes through his property, Brown said today. It was in a brushy area on the ground, she said.
During detective’s follow up search, a mandible – the portion with the jaw and teeth – was found a little ways away from the skull, according to Brown.
The remains were sent to a specialist for identification, which was made through dental records, Brown said.
Brown said there was no trauma detected on Riemer’s skull and there was enough of the skull recovered they are also able to conclude he wasn’t shot in the head.
“There was a driver’s license found at the scene also, but we don’t know who it belongs to,” Brown said. It’s too weathered to read, she said.
Riemer was a person of interest in Robertson’s death since he vanished at the same time. He was 36 years old. One theory was he killed her and then took off, Brown said.
Their 2-year-old daughter was found wandering alone at a K-Mart in Spanaway on the day the pair went missing, according to Brown.
During 1986, there were several attempts made by searchers to find Riemer, according to the sheriff’s office.
His remains were found within a mile of where hers had been discovered in February 1986.
She was stabbed in the chest, Brown said.
Lewis County detectives will be conducting a joint investigation with Pierce County.
Unfortunately, all the detectives who worked the case have retired and answers aren’t expected be coming any time soon, according to detective Ed Troyer of the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.
“Right now, we’re just pulling records, seeing what we have,” Troyer said today.
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department is aware this could be tied to other things and they will be checking with other agencies, checking on other homicides, he said.
“We’ve got to be careful, it’s still an ongoing investigation, if we’ve got a suspect out there, that’s yet to be determined,” he said.
One case they will look at is another couple killed around the same time, according to Troyer.
According to an item on the web site for the television show Unsolved Mysteries – which aired an episode on Robertson’s homicide in 1989 – just 15 miles away, a man named Stephen Harkins had been found in his sleeping bag, shot in the forehead; and his companion Ruth Cooper was found two months later, shot to death.
Lewis County’s Chief Brown said today, one of those victims had a ligature, like a sock, that was similar to one found with the body of Diana K. Robertson.
While it’s good Riemer was found, it still doesn’t bring a whole lot of new information to light, Brown said.
“Hopefully someone, somewhere, knows something and will call us,” she said.
Brown asks anyone with information about the case to call the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office at 360-748-9286 or Lewis County Crime Stoppers at 1-800- 748-6422.
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