A partial skull belonging to Riemer was found within a mile radius of where Robinson’s body was found back in 1986. And because of the tube sock pattern, the police suspected that he was not only responsible for the death of Robinson, but the first couple as well.This was also more convincing because he had a history of domestic violence, making the link to violent homicide more possible.Ī major development, decades later in March of 2011, caused everything the police thought they knew to be once again under question.
The most agreed upon story at the time was that Riemer killed Robertson, drove his daughter to the store and abandoned her, and then fled. There was also blood belonging to Robertson found in the car, making Riemer the new primary suspect. One mystery of this case was that a manila envelope was found on the dashboard of the truck with the message, “I love you, Diana” written in Riemer’s handwriting. Despite their efforts, they could only find his pickup truck.
Robertson was found first, again with a tube sock tied around her neck, by a driver near a road frequented by loggers, so the police brought in bloodhounds in an attempt to find Riemer. She was only two years old, so she was not verbal enough to provide much information, but she did say that, “Mommy was in the trees.” Because of the winter weather, searching for the missing couple was difficult, and their bodies were not discovered until over two months later. The same evening that they left, Crystal was found alive standing outside of a Kmart about 30 miles away. Mike Riemer and his girlfriend, Diana Robertson, were on a camping trip near Nisqually River with their daughter, Crystal. More than two months after these first murders, the second pair of victims were reported missing. Although this suggests strangulation, her cause of death was actually determined to be a shot to the abdomen.
The rest of her body and belongings were found in the nearby area, and a tube sock was wrapped around her neck. Over a month later, Cooper’s skull was found and positively identified using dental records. Their pet dog was found shot to death as well, but Cooper’s body was still missing. Harkins’ body was found first, still in his sleeping bag, suggesting that he was killed by a shot to the head in his sleep. The couple had planned a weekend camping trip at Tule Lake, but they did not come back to work the following Monday so their families reported them missing. The first pair of victims, Steven Harkins and Ruth Cooper, were discovered on August 14, 1985.
In this short window of time, he was presumed to have ended the lives of four victims, but this number could be vastly different if there are victims who have not been found yet. The Tube Sock Killer was active for just four months in the remote area of Mineral in Washington state. This week I’ll be telling you about an especially interesting case to make up for the long break we had, the Tube Sock Killings case. The cases still remain unsolved.Welcome back to Unsolved, everyone.
Authorities ruled Mike out as a suspect but believe that an unknown serial killer was responsible. Authorities linked the murders of Ruth and Stephen to the murder of Diana and for over 25 years, it was believed that Mike was the killer of all three until 2011, when his skull was discovered only one mile from where the body of Diana was discovered. Her boyfriend, Mike, was nowhere to be found, but authorities discovered his truck nearby - there were bloodstains on the front seat and a note which read, “I love you, Diana” was discovered on the dashboard. She had been stabbed a total of seventeen times and then strangled with a tube sock. All Crystal could say to the police was that “Mommy is in the trees.” It wasn’t until two months later that Diana’s mutilated body was discovered in a forest in Elbe, Washington.
It seemed as though Mike and Diana had disappeared without a trace. With her parents nowhere to be found, her photograph was published in a local newspaper and her grandmother came to collect her from the police station. Crystal was discovered late in the afternoon, wandering around on her own. Four months later, Diana Robertson and her boyfriend, Mike Riemer, disappeared while looking for a Christmas tree to chop down with their 3-year-old daughter, Crystal. It wouldn’t be until two months later that the body of Ruth was discovered on a dead end road, strangled to death with a tube sock and her head, decapitated. Days later, Stephen and his dog were discovered, shot to death and placed inside his sleeping back. The Tube Sock Killer - On 10 August, 1985, 42-year-old Ruth Cooper and her boyfriend, 27-year-old Stephen Harkins and their dog disappeared while camping in a forest in South Pierce County, Washington.