Serial Killer: Duct Tape Killer Part 1

Larisa Dumansky

Larisa Dumansky was born Larisa Yorofeyev in Kiev, Ukraine on April 28, 1965 to Nedezhda and Ivan Yerofeyev.  She had three brothers named Vladimir, Sergey and Oleg and seven sisters – Vera, Lyubov, Lilia, Olga, Nataliya, Anna and Tatyana.  She graduated from Kiev High School No. 72 and then from fashion design school also in Kiev in 1985.  She married her husband Bill Dumansky on August 24, 2986 in Khmelnitsky, Ukraine.  The couple immigrated to the United States in October of 1990 to escape religious persecution.  They had two daughters named Kristina and Regina. 

Larisa and Bill settled in Sioux Falls, South Dakota upon arriving in the United States.  The population of Sioux Falls at the time was less than 100,000 people and became nationally ranked as the best city to live in in the U.S. based on several factors including healthcare, employment, home costs and low crime rates.  

After settling in, both Larisa and Bill got jobs working for the John Morrell and Co meat packing plant.  Bill eventually found different work, but Larisa stayed at Morrell’s working the night shift from 4:00pm-1:00am.  They were both members of the First Assembly of God Church in Sioux Falls.

What Happened to Larisa?

On August 27, 1994, Bill woke up and noticed that Larisa hadn’t turned off the alarm like she normally did each morning.  He got up and searched the house and couldn’t find her.  He went to check if her minivan was there, but it was gone.  Bill got dressed and made several phone calls to friends and coworkers but no one had seen her.  He also called two different ERs to no avail, so he got in his car to drive around in hopes of finding her. 

He knew that she had made it to work the day before because she had called him on her break to confirm the menu for the following night’s dinner because they were having guests.  By 7:30am, Bill was in the parking lot of Morrell’s driving through the lot.  He found her minivan and felt immediate relief at seeing it.  He pulled up behind it and parked but then noticed that the tire on the front driver’s side was flat.  Then he noticed the keys dangling from the driver door.  He then called the police. 

Upon arriving at the scene, detectives were concerned, but operating from the standpoint that Larisa could be with a friend or a relative.  Not too long after, though, a missing persons case was opened.  Larisa’s minivan was dusted for fingerprints and checked for other forensic details, but nothing of value was found.  Bill told detectives that she had recurring flat tires in the last two months, most of which had happened in the Morrell’s parking lot.  He said that twice they were punctured and he checked them himself and found a cut in the valve stem which was causing a slow leak. The detectives found Bill’s explanation to be “unconvincing” and he became a primary suspect.  

The detectives found another situation to be suspicious with a coworker of Larisa’s.  Larisa regularly gave rides to a Russian coworker, who was also an immigrant, back to the county jail after his work shift ended.  He had lost his license after operating a vehicle while intoxicated and was on work release.  While this lead was being looked into by an agent, thousands of other leads were also being looked into. 

There were 3,600 people employed at Morrell’s who could possibly know something.  The number was narrowed down to 100 people that could have actually come into contact with Larisa.  Six agents from the FBI were brought in to interview these employees.  Unfortunately, nothing came from these interviews.  They also found that the Russian coworker’s alibi of working late and not finding Larisa in the parking lot and taking a ride from someone else was rock solid.  Bill’s story about the tire also checked out after they spoke with a mechanic saying that the tire/valve stem would have had to have been tampered with.  Bill was cleared as a suspect pretty early in the investigation.

An award of $8,000 was offered for information about Larisa in September of 1994 from Morrell’s and Professional Carpet Systems where Bill was working.  Friends and volunteers passed out flyers and searchers were done with people on foot and in helicopters as well as with dogs.  People who believed Larisa had been abducted formed an organization called Friends of Larisa.  The group was made up of many people from Larisa’s church and they worked over Labor Day weekend to send out 4,000 letters with Larisa’s photo and information.  The group also canvassed the neighborhood on foot looking for Larisa or any information or clues.  They printed 5,000 cards with Larisa’s photo and distributed it to stores that sold hunting and fishing licenses knowing that hunters coming for pheasant season would be in the fields.  There were tons of searches done and detectives were researching tips but weeks, then months passed and Bill still kept everything in the house as Larisa had left it. 

Piper Streyle

Piper Potts was born on February 11, 1968 in Texas.  She had three brothers and lived in Ohio until the family moved back to Texas before she started high school.  Piper was the homecoming queen in Rio Medina, Texas.  She played the clarinet, performed with the flag team and was the statistician for the baseball and basketball teams.  

Piper attended Canyon View Bible School and Seminary for college in Oregon where she crossed paths with Vance Streyle.  Vance liked Piper’s positive outlook on life and fell for her pretty quickly.  Both Vance and Piper had goals of starting a church, working with children and organizing a Bible camp where kids could have fun and learn about Christ.  Vance once said, “I met this gal called Piper, and I thought to myself, ‘That is some gal.  That is the gal I want to marry.’”  The two fell in love and were married two years later in 1989. Their daughter Shaina came along shortly after and then two years later, their son, Nathan, was born.  

The couple then moved to South Dakota where Vance’s family was to a 40 acre rural property west of Sioux Falls.  The couple opened Prairie View Bible Camp on their property that was open during the summer months.  Piper was also employed at Southeastern Mental Health Outreach (SMHO) where she provided home care assistance to a mother and son who were both disabled.  She was punctual, efficient and always on time. 

What Happened to Piper?

On Friday July 26, 1996, there was a knock at the door of the Streyle home.  Shaina, their 3 ½ year old daughter, wanted to answer the door, but Vance was worried that someone she didn’t know would be there so he went instead.  At the door was a young man with a mustache and of average height.  Behind him in the driveway was a black SUV with black rims.  The man was fidgeting and shuffling his feet.  Vance introduced himself and in return the man said that his name was Robert Anderson.  He asked Vance about the camp saying that he was interested in it for his young children.  Vance told him that he would put him on their mailing list.  Piper came up behind him and handed Robert a pen and paper.  He stared at her and said nothing, but wrote down his name and address then he left.  The couple didn’t think much of it as this was a somewhat regular occurrence for them. 

The following Monday, July 29, Vance left for work in the morning while Piper was home with the kids.  Vance called Piper that morning but she didn’t answer so he called back at noon but again with no answer.  He left a voicemail asking where she was and that if he didn’t hear back from her, he would pick the kids up from the babysitter that afternoon.  

Piper was supposed to head to work later in the day, but hadn’t shown up on time, which was not like her.  The mother she looked after called SMHO and spoke with Piper’s coworker, Patty Sinclair.  Patty then called Piper’s home, but the phone rang for quite a while before someone answered.  Finally, Shaina answered the phone and when she said hello, Patty asked her if her mommy or daddy was home.  She told Patty no and then Patty asked if there was a babysitter.  Shaina replied, “No.  They are killed.  A mean man carried Mommy away.”  Then she hung up the phone.  

Patty called back and when Shaina picked up the phone, Patty asked her when her mommy left and she told a while ago.  She asked Shaina where she went and she said, “She went with a man in a black car.”  Patty asked her if she knew the man and she said, “No.  I don’t want Mommy to die.  I don’t want Daddy hurt.  I don’t want Daddy to die.”  Patty then got the attention of a coworker and had them call 911.  The dispatcher told the coworker to have Patty keep Shaina on the phone.  Patty asked what her name was and she said, “Shaina.  My mommy is going to die,” then hung up the phone.  

McCook County Sheriff Gene Taylor was dispatched to the Streyle’s trailer located west of Sioux Falls near Canistota.  He was not informed of the conversation between Patty’s coworker and 911.  He was just told to check on the welfare of a child.  As he walked up to the trailer, he felt unsettled as he saw the bottom of three steps up to the door was knocked off and the second step was broken and tilted at an awkward angle.  It looked like it had recently occurred.  

The front door was open and a hole was where the glass should have been on the screen door.  He called out a few times with no reply, but he heard the voices of children.  He entered the home and immediately knew something was wrong.  There was a chair, an ironing board and other items tipped over in disarray and there was a steak knife in the trash can by the front door.  He also saw a purse with a checkbook, calculator and bills surrounding it. 

He made his way to the hallway where he saw 3 ½ year-old Shaina.  She asked him if he knew where her Mom was and told him that her Mommy was going to die.  He asked her if she was in the hospital and she said no.  Shaina was crying and then Nathan came out of the bedroom to be with his sister.  Sheriff Taylor asked Shaina a few more questions, but she only cried more.  He called for backup and authorities of all kinds showed up to the house including the Division of Criminal Investigation.  Agent Jim Severson spoke gently with Shaina about what happened.  Shaina told him, “A bad man in a black truck came.  There was a loud noise, and Mommy said to get Nathan and hide.”

Then the phone rang and Sheriff Taylor answered it.  The man on the other line asked who it was and he said, “This is McCook County Sheriff Gene Taylor.  Who is this?”  The man replied, “Vance Streyle.  I’m looking for my kids.  Is something wrong?”  Sheriff Taylor told him that his kids were safe but he needed him to come home as soon as possible.  Vance told him that he couldn’t get ahold of Piper and had assumed the kids were at the babysitter’s.  Vance said that the babysitter told him that Piper had called at 9:30 that morning saying she was bringing the kids over in the afternoon. 

Police initially didn’t allow Vance to speak with his children or go in the house as he was under suspicion.  However, after some quick deliberations, they decided that since Shaina continually said that a bad man had taken her mommy, they finally let him go to his kids.  Shaina told Vance that a mean man took Nathan’s tent but that Mommy said it was okay.  The day prior was Nathan’s birthday and he had received a blue kid’s tent that was set up in his bedroom.  

Investigation

A roadblock was set up pretty quickly and anyone driving by was stopped and questioned.  One man driving a county road grader named Donny Theel was the first to have seen something.  He told the police that at about 9:30am he was headed south when a flat black SUV with black wheels and a CB antenna on the left front side came toward him heading north toward Lake Vermillion.  He said that the vehicle had gotten about 100 yards from the grader when it all of a sudden made a U-turn, went down into the ditch and sped back to the south. 

Donny then drove the grader south a few miles until he hit the county line then he turned around heading north to blade the other side.  The police asked if he saw the black SUV again and he said that about an hour later, the same SUV came from the west and ran a stop sign right in front of him.  Then again at noon he saw it in an area across from the Streyle’s home heading west. 

While this was going on, there were crime scene investigators and photographers and the Streyle home.  They found that the blue kid’s tent was missing and thought that perhaps the assailant took it to dispose of Piper’s body.  

The outside of the house was also searched and they found a spent shell casing from a 9mm handgun underneath Sheriff Taylor’s car.  Vance confirmed to police that he did not own any firearms.  They took Piper’s hairbrush for samples as well as blood stained sanitary pads.  The police then began the search for Piper.  

Vance took the kids to stay with his parents.  After putting the kids to bed, Vance remembered his encounter with Robert Anderson the Friday before and that his name and address were on a piece of paper in the home.  He called the police and was told to meet back at his house.  Vance and the police began searching for the paper and Vance remembered it being put in a desk drawer.  But the paper wasn’t there.  He remembered that the man’s name was Robert Anderson because it was the same as his grandfather’s.  He also remembered that Robert said that his father lived by Doc Schaefer’s place in Lake Vermillion. 

Of the many people that showed up to the Streyle home, one was the game warden and he knew exactly the place.  The police searched records of black SUVs with Robert’s name and then his father’s that the game warden provided, Leland Robertson.  The police then decided to call the parents’ home and spoke with Ruth, Leland’s wife and Robert’s mother.  They told her that they were looking for Robert, but didn’t say they were the police.  They said that they were looking to buy a car from him.  She told them that he wasn’t home as he was working the night shift and Morrell’s.  Robert was a fridge technician and he worked from 11:00pm-7:00am.

The next day, July 30th, investigators called Morrell’s and got Robert’s phone number and address.  They drove by his house looking for a black SUV, but there wasn’t one there.  They ran his name through the DMV and found that a Ford Bronco was registered to him.  They got the license plate number and drove through the Morrell’s parking lot in search of the Bronco.  They came upon a Bronco matching his license plate, but it wasn’t black.  It was blue with a custom white and black weaved pattern on the sides.  

One agent stayed to watch the Bronco while Donny was called back.  Donny met detectives at Morrell’s and said that if the blue Bronco in front of him was black, it would be the one he saw the day before.  When a man came out and got in the Bronco, he was tailed.  

Some agents/detectives were staking out Anderson’s home and some were making a photo lineup using his driver’s license photo.  They showed the lineup to Vance but he could not ID with certainty that any of them were the man from Friday.  They then separated the photos and showed them to Shaina like you would with a deck of cards, but she couldn’t pick him out either.  

Anderson’s Interview

At this point, they couldn’t tie Anderson to kidnapping so an agent from the DCI, Bob Grandpre, began the process of conducting an elimination interview with him.  Grandpre went to Anderson’s home and he agreed with no question to come down to the station for questioning.  He was interviewed by a few different agents and detectives and stated that his full name was Robert Leroy Anderson.  When he asked if he knew why he was asked to come to the station, he said that he supposed it was about the girl who went missing and that he read about it in the paper.  

They asked him if he had gone to the Streyle home on Friday, July 26th and he said that he did because he wanted to know about the camp.  They asked if went by again on Monday, July 29th and he said that he didn’t.  They asked if he was sure and he said that he did stop back yesterday around 11:00 but didn’t see a vehicle and he pulled in but didn’t see a vehicle because he remembered two vehicles sitting there so then he backed out.  The detectives asked for more detail and Anderson said that he stopped by two more times because he wanted to use their archery range, but no one answered.  

Anderson also admitted to making a U-turn but didn’t have any explanation as to why.  They asked him if he had washed or painted his Bronco recently and he said that he hadn’t.  The detectives thought it odd because it was very clean after having traveled on gravel roads.  They asked if had ever used or owned a handgun to which he said that he hadn’t.  At this point in the interview, one agent left to get affidavits for search warrants and to find a judge.

During the interview, Anderson went off on tangents about his knowledge of black holes in space, the speed of light, the Roman Empire and theories of physics.  He compared his intelligence to that of Albert Einstein claiming that he developed his own theory of light.  He expressed boredom and even began doodling.  Anderson mentioned that he was tired and that he knew they wouldn’t let him leave.  The police told him that the door was open and he said, “To the Bronco?”  And they told him, no the door was unlocked and he could leave if he wanted to.  

Then detectives switched tactics and asked him if he knew Larisa Dumansky.  He said that he did and that he had worked with her.  Then a detective came in and took photos of Anderson.  The detective and Anderson went back and forth about why the photo was taken.  The detective was trying to get Anderson to admit he was there by saying Shaina could identify him.  He continued to deny it, but realized that this didn’t look good for him. 

The police thought that Piper might still be alive so they needed to keep Anderson talking because as it stood, he was not under arrest and was technically free to go.  Anything that he had said after he first asked to leave would not be admissible in court so any confession he made now could not be used.  However, it was their priority to keep him talking in order to get clues about Piper.  

Anderson said that he would drive around in the mornings and would often see Piper getting the mail.  The police asked him what he thought someone would do to her if they kidnapped her.  His response was, “I’ve heard that when a woman is abducted, she is tied up and raped.  Sometimes she’s kept as a sex slave.”  He then spoke about sex for two hours.  

After his long monologue about sex, he again said that he wanted to leave and the detectives told him that he could leave at any time, but he may want to hear what they had just learned.  He asked them what they knew and they told him that they had reason to believe that Piper was still alive.  Unfortunately, it was a tactic that didn’t work to get them an answer and he asked to leave again.  

The police took a break and one decided that the interview was done unless they Mirandized him – meaning that he couldn’t leave, but wasn’t under arrest.  They decided then to bait him into staying longer because if they Mirandize him, he could stop talking and/or get a lawyer.  They told him, “You can go, Robert, but we have a question.  We’re hearing you may have knowledge about Piper’s whereabouts.  Can you help us out with that?”

Anderson said that he couldn’t, but continued to talk about black holes and his knowledge of engineering.  The police requested that he take a polygraph test, but he refused because he didn’t consider it a reliable test.  Anderson was held for eight hours and when he was finally released, they told him that he couldn’t go back home or in his Bronco because of the search warrants they had obtained.  Anderson told them that he was innocent and was just wanting information on the Bible Camp.  He was required to give police his clothes and the fanny pack he had with him.  Inside the fanny back two handcuff keys were found.  They also took blood, hair and fingernail samples and during his strip search, it was found that he was wearing no underwear which is a detail that makes a difference later. 

During Anderson’s interview, he also insisted that he never owned a gun.  The police questioned several coworkers of his and there were two that said otherwise.  Richard Frye said that he had taken Anderson pheasant hunting with him.  While Richard hunted, Anderson stayed at the range shooting his 9mm pistol.  Richard said that Anderson pointed out a valley that he said would be a good place to bury a body.

Another coworker stated that he shot firearms with Anderson at a public range where Anderson used his 9mm.  This coworker led the police to the range where they collected spent shells.  The ballistics matched on eleven of the twelve found at the range to the one found in the Streyle’s driveway.  

Searching the Bronco/Anderson’s Home July 30-August 1, 1996

The search of Anderson’s Bronco turned up a lot of interesting items.  There were bags, trash, boxes, tools and receipts.  There were two receipts of interest initially: one for a CB antenna and one for the installation of the antenna.  They also found a receipt for Ace Hardware from July 25, 1996 for brown jersey gloves, two household sprayers and a 3” paintbrush.  There was another receipt from the same day from a different store for a hand sprayer, a skein of red yarn and a compact disc.  Yet another receipt from that day but another store was for a 16oz bottle of 393 craft paint.  All of these purchases were made before Anderson’s Friday trip to the Streyle home. 

There was also a fast food receipt taped to a bag from July 26 with black paint on it.  There was a receipt from Menards from July 29 at 8:13am which was less than three hours from when he admitted to stopping at the Streyle’s.  Menards, for those of you not in the Midwest, is a home improvement store similar to Lowe’s or Home Depot.  He purchased duct tape, a 3” brush and a 5-quart bucket.  

The police went to Menards and spoke with the cashier and showed a photo, but they didn’t recognize Anderson.  However, a few weeks later, the Menards store manager called the police and said that Anderson’s check from July 29th had bounced. 

There were two toolboxes found in the Bronco.  One contained the typical tools you would expect to find, but the other contained items that the agents felt were for sinister purposes and referred to it as the “the torture kit.”  The toolbox contained black and red spray paint, a 5” tear gas container, nylon straps, 9 feet of chain, an X-Acto knife, eyebolts, small pieces of unknown plants and several quarter-inch wooden dowels cut into 9” pieces.  

The police found that the backseats of the Bronco had been removed and replaced with a large, carpeted platform with eye rings in the corners and it was fitted to the back of the SUV.  It was described as looking like a bondage board.  There were four hairs removed from the board for testing.  The state lab also found a piece of black and white cotton cloth on the board.  

On the exterior of the Bronco, they found drips of black paint along the white tire rims and more black paint under the hood with splotches and brushed paint on pieces of metal.  After extensive searches of the Bronco, the police sent it to the state crime lab. 

During the search of his home and vehicle, the police put Anderson and HIS WIFE AND KIDS in a hotel.  There were also several things taken from the home including clothes and vacuum bags.  The backyard shed on the property was also searched.  They found brown jersey gloves with the tag still on, black spray paint, primer spray paint and an almost complete roll of duct tape.  They also found a 1 ½” x 5” piece of stainless steel with a 1 ½” triangle welded on one end that was spray painted gray.  It was later determined that this and the bondage board were made at his workplace.

Detectives also went to the Ben Franklin store where Anderson had purchased the paint and asked the employee working if the type of paint bought would wash off of a vehicle.  They said that this was the second time that week she’d been asked that and ID’d Anderson as the person who asked first.  The paint would wash off of a vehicle.

Robert Leroy Anderson

Robert Leroy Anderson was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in 1968 into what was described to be a dysfunctional family.  He had two brothers and a younger sister.  Anderson qualified for the gifted and talented program in high school.  He had a self-centered nature and a tendency toward unlawful behavior.  Much like his father and brothers.  His brother, Billy, served prison time for manslaughter and his brother Lee Iver attempted to kill his boss and his fiance and was sentenced to life in prison.  At one point, all of the Anderson men were in prison together. 

In high school, Anderson’s best friend, Glen Walker, was moving to Kansas City with his family and Anderson decided to go with.  This was at the beginning of his junior year and he ended up dropping out.  He did, however, get his GED.  He worked odd jobs and started college.  He would tell people about his fantasies about women.  Glen said that it began in middle school when Anderson first talked about kidnapping a woman. 

In adulthood, his fantasies got darker and he decided that he would need a partner to carry out his plans.  He set his sights on one of his longtime friends, Jamie Hammer.  Anderson and Hammer had known each other since childhood and Anderson was very open about his plans.  He asked Hammer if he wanted to help him saying that they could both rape the woman.

At one point, he brought walkie talkies to Hammer and said that they would use a tire popper on the road and then park just down the way and after a woman hit the popper, one man would drive up and pretend to help but would instead pull her into their car.  Hammer agreed to do a test run with him, but when Anderson drove him past the homes of the women he planned to abduct, he ultimately said no to helping him.