Robert Leroy Anderson 2

Anderson steadfastly claimed he wasn't involved, despite refusing to take a polygraph test. He admitted to stopping by the house the previous Friday to ask about the camp, but denied having any clue as to Piper Streyle’s whereabouts.

Yet, when police started to question why neighbors had seen him in the area the previous day, Anderson’s story started to crumble. He admitted to stopping at the house again to ask to use their archery range, but then left without getting out of his vehicle under the assumption no one was home because he didn't see any vehicles in the driveway.

Except, officers informed him, there was another vehicle there. Anderson backtracked, agreeing with the officers and correcting himself by stating he left without getting out.

According to South Dakota Supreme Court documents, Anderson told officers he'd heard about Piper Streyle's disappearance, and the media reported that there were children alone at the Streyle home, but he hadn't seen any children at the home.

Anderson then contradicted himself, stating, when he knocked on the door, he heard no answer. He told police, "I heard the kid say something, but that's all I heard. You know, I mean, nobody answered."

Authorities issued a warrant for his arrest soon after his interview ended.

A team searched his trailer, and found blood-stained and semen-soaked jeans. Two keys to handcuffs were found, a pocket-knife with shirt-like material still stuck in it, as well as a can of black, water-soluble spray paint.

Investigators searched his blue Ford Bronco, peeling back carpet to reveal a plywood platform with holes drilled into it for ankle and wrist restraints. They found a toolbox filled with torture devices and duct tape, a dirt-covered shovel, dog hairs matching the Streyle's family pet, traces of black water-based paint, and a pair of human hairs on the floor in the back of the vehicle, which would later be confirmed to be a DNA match to Piper Streyle.

Shaina and Vance Streyle were called in to identify the man they had seen in a lineup. Separately, they both identified that it was in fact Anderson who had stopped at the house and abducted Shaina's mother.

Anderson was arrested on August 2, 1996 on two counts of kidnapping.

Despite extensive search efforts along the Big Sioux River, all that was found of Piper Streyle were two halves of her shirt – found in separate locations – a clump of duct tape with more of Streyle’s hair attached to it, as well as rope, chains, eyebolts, a vibrator and half-burned candle. It was assumed by investigators that these items were used to torture Streyle.

Piper Streyle’s body was never recovered.

Robert Leroy Anderson was found guilty of kidnapping Piper Streyle. Two months later, he was sentenced to life in prison by state circuit Judge Boyd McMurchie.

Anderson complained to the court, claiming he was innocent and a victim of vindictive prosecution.

Eventually, another woman came forward.

Amy Anderson, unrelated to Robert Anderson, told police that she had been nearly kidnapped in 1994, after driving over "wheel poppers" made by Robert Anderson and an accomplice. As she was trying to get her spare tire, Anderson jumped from the bushes and grabbed her. He had started to carry her off to a wooded area, but Amy Anderson was able to break free, running back to the road and flagging down a car who stopped to pick her up.

Amy Anderson would have been his first victim had she not thwarted his plans.

Anderson never stood trial for the attempted kidnapping of Amy Anderson, as he was already facing charges for the disappearance of Piper Streyle, but Amy Anderson was one of those who testified against him.

Shortly after Anderson’s conviction, Glen Marcus Walker, a childhood friend of Robert Leroy Anderson’s, confessed to being an accomplice to the attempted kidnapping of Amy Anderson and being an accomplice to Larisa Dumansky’s kidnapping.

Walker informed police that, on August 26, 1994, Anderson approached Larisa Dumansky in the parking lot where of John Morrell & Co. He held her at knife-point and ordered her into his vehicle.

Walker said they then drove her to Lake Vermillion. When they arrived, Anderson tortured Larisa Dumansky and raped her several times, eventually suffocating and killing her.

Walker claimed he "only watched" and confessed to helping Anderson methodically plan and carry out Larisa Dumansky's kidnapping, but remained adamant on his innocence regarding her rape and murder.

On May 20,1997, nearly three years after Dumansky's disappearance, Walker led investigators to her shallow grave on Lake Vermillion, where they found partial remains that matched her DNA.

Anderson’s prison cellmate, Jeremy Brunner, contacted the attorney general’s office with information regarding Anderson’s crimes.

Brunner explained that Anderson bragged about his crimes in great detail, especially about the murders of Piper Streyle and Larisa Dumansky.

Anderson had told Brunner the precise location of where he hid “trophies” of his victims – in the basement, between the ceiling and the walls of his mother's house. He'd also confided in Brunner that he had moved half of Larisa Dumansky's body — keeping a few of her bones a "prizes" — and skull to prevent investigators from identifying her.

Brunner claimed that Anderson bragged about raping and strangling Piper Streyle before disposing of her body in the Big Sioux River.

Brunner said the reason so many people saw Anderson the day of her disappearance was because he went back to the house after disposing of Streyle to retrieve his watch and Nathan's tent.

After he'd washed the black paint off his vehicle, Anderson drove his now-blue Ford Bronco back to the house because he realized his watch had fallen off in the struggle with Streyle and he had fired his 9 mm gun and shot a hole through the tent.

Anderson even confessed to Brunner that he considered himself a serial killer.

Authorities later recovered the items from Anderson's mother's home following Brunner’s instructions, and the items were identified as belonging to Streyle and Dumansky, including bones, jewelry and clothing.

This provided the missing link police had been looking for to nail Anderson with the murders of both women.

On April 6, 1999 , A jury of eight men and eight women found Anderson guilty on four counts: the rape and murder of Piper Streyle and the kidnapping and murder of Larisa Dumansky. Three days later, Anderson was sentenced to death by lethal injection.

On March 30, 2003 , Anderson would not live to carry out his death sentence. Instead, he was found in an isolation cell after committing suicide.

Anderson was in the process of appealing his conviction and had lost his father a few days prior to suicide by gunshot. It's theorized that he knew he was going to lose the appeal.

Reactions to his suicide were grimly positive.

Vance Streyle said, “This is what we were after anyway. It just saved time and effort.”

Prosecutor Roger Gerlach said, "There's a lot of women who will sleep better knowing that this guy is deceased."

Glen Walker was given 30 years in the state penitentiary after being charged with attempted kidnapping, accessory to kidnapping and first-degree murder, and conspiracy to kidnap Dumansky. He was released in 2016 on good behavior.