Sunday is March 2 (damn), and thusly, a year ago Sunday Robin L. Pope disappeared in Maryland. Here are the basic details but essentially, she was living with her husband (Wayne Pope) until December of 2012 in Stevensville, Maryland. They separated and she moved in with a friend on Kent Island. Her husband was questioned and said that Robin came over to the house on March 1, 2012 (later at night) to retrieve some belongings. After she arrived, he told police he left the house and didn’t return until the next morning; when he returned, her car was parked in the driveway but there was no sign of her. Their dog Bella, who had been living with her, was also missing. The dog was found dead in the water off a pier near their former married home a day later; Pope was found about three weeks later. Because she had been in the water for over three weeks, a cause of death was difficult to determine — although she did have bruises on her feet.
A year later, the unanswered questions are everywhere. Due to the condition of the body, police aren’t even 100 percent sure a crime was committed — it’s possible that her and Bella (the dog) fell into the water and Bella was simply discovered first. There are no major suspects, but no one seems to have been completely ruled out either.
I fully believe in “innocent until proven guilty,” but I do think more needs to be focused on the estranged husband here. The story, as reported in the media, doesn’t seem to completely add up. If your ex-wife is just stopping by to pick up belongings, why would you leave for the entire night? And if you left for the evening, where did you go? A paramour’s house? A hotel? A bar? In all three of those cases, someone should be able to verify you and clear you — I’ve seen reports saying Wayne Pope is not considered a suspect, but as of last week, Maryland police were also saying nothing has been ruled out. So if he has a block of hours unaccounted for during which at the very least the dog died/fell into the water, shouldn’t we press him for that timeline?
Websleuths has some forums on this case — as always, take it with a grain of salt — in which the timelines are moderately clarified. Wayne Pope apparently called the police at 2am on March 2nd, meaning he was gone for about four hours. I haven’t found documentation of his alibi during that period. Apparently Robin Pope was married prior to Wayne — she had only been married to Wayne since about 2010 — and that previous marriage was rocky. Also, there’s discussion that the dog (Bella) had some upper body/torso damage. The dog was a Great Dane, which is fairly hard to harm in that way, and that leads to some potential questions. Here’s the comments from her daughter Rachael after the discovery of the body, via para-phrasing on WebSleuths (again, grain of salt):
This was the direct quote from Rachel. “this day will not bring closure only until the person responsible is brought to justice”
If she thinks someone responsible needs to be brought to justice, that in my opinion, does not imply Rachel thinks her mother’s death was an accident.
She also stated the following. On her father Wayne Pope, I asked if she stood by him: “Um yes. Well yea. I just really don’t want to answer that question now.”
In my opinion, Rachel not wanting to answer the question as to weather or not she stands by her father is also quite telling, but again this is just my opinion.
The money for the searches (in the three weeks before the body was found) was provided by Wayne Pope’s family — you can view that anyway you want. There are also rumors/stories that her shirt was found near the deceased dog, Bella.
Obviously, I’m not a detective/crime fighter in any way. I’d say that Wayne Pope (and potentially the first husband, who I can’t find documentation of) should be leaned on a little more as regards their timelines, especially Wayne — his hours gone sound a little weird. If something isn’t true and you tell it 5-6 times, chances are enough details will shift to raise flags. He seems like a person to lean on, but again, it could be an accident (although the shirt…) or a random (lower percentage chance).
The address of their home was 100 Beach Road (well, it was on that block) in Stevensville, MD. I can’t embed in the new Google Maps (’bout the only thing I don’t really like about Google), but if you search for it, it’s a fairly isolated area, which also makes the case challenging.
Robins first husband (Priscilla Hastings father) Sadly died a few months before Robin. Robin & Wayne (her second husband & father to her other daughter Rachel Pope) had been together almost 20yrs. The marriage hit a rough patch & Robin had left Wayne a few months prior to her death. It has since come out that there was infidelity in the marriage & that Robin had a boyfriend for several months prior & at the time of her death. Wayne – Robins second husband whom she was split from & the last person to see her alive has now been listed as a person of interest. If you go onto the “remembering Robin pope” facebook page you can read the mounds of evidence that her daughter Priscilla has been posting. Its facts & timelines etc… That the police never released to the media. Robins friends family & daughters have all stayed quiet per the police request & out of respect for all involved in the investigation but now that its been over a year & Wayne has cashed in on Robins life insurance etc… And is still roaming free Her Daughter is outraged!!! The family feels that a year has been more than enough time to sit quiet & long enough for the police to have done thier jobs. Please if ANYONE knows anything involving this case or the people in it please speak out!! Robins daughters need your HELP…. If you know of anything regarding Robins Husband Wayne or her boyfriend please post!! Thank you
Also please look further into the Nicole Burgess murder !!! She & her dog were stabbed to death in her upper class nieghborhood in Davidsonville Md. Only 25 miles from Robin Pope & at the same time. Plus both murders involved a dad dog
Both cases are still unsolved!!! Please help
I was never aware of this site and was just told about it, I wanted to clear a couple things up about Robin Pope. Robin and Wayne had only separated in January 2013. Robin still remained at their home until Wednesday February 6th when Wayne found out about her infidelity. It was then that Robin came to my home and stayed until Saturday February 9th and she then moved into my daughters condo. Robin did go to the house the evening of March 1st to retrieve some belongings as well as pick up a fence pole digger for a job she would be starting. That was around 10:30pm, allegedly Wayne returned back to the home to find no sign of Robin and her Great Dane Bella. Bella had not been staying with Robin she was at the house with Wayne but spent most of her time at the neighbors home. Fast forward Wayne did go back to the house as I said to find no sign of Robin or Bella it was then that Wayne showed up at my home at approximately 1:10 am my daughter was just getting home and let him in, she came upstairs and woke me up letting me know Wayne was downstairs and wanted to know had I heard from Robin she was missing. I immediately went down to find a very distraught, worried, panic looking Wayne. Wayne and my daughter left to go search the condo and returned around 2:00 am and at that time I suggested he go home and call the police. Where Wayne was prior to that 10:30 – 1:10am I could not tell you he claims to have gone to 7-Eleven in Grasonville, MD and to his parents house to switch out vehicles…….What I do know is this, something bad really bad happened that evening, and we need help we need to find out the truth. Someone out there knows something, Robins daughters deserve to know the truth. Robin was my very best friend not a day goes by that I don’t think about her and that night and I wont stop until justice is served. We need help, we need her story to stay out there in the media, we have a FB page Remembering Robin, we have been interviewed by Dateline (you can see it on their website) until just yesterday we had no idea about this posting.
Also there was no money provided by the Pope family for searches, there was a group of volunteers that searched as well as our group including Rachael and Priscilla and we searched everyday for 23 days we covered a lot of land and all over the Bay. My home was basically headquarters we would meet every morning and plan our search. Not once did Wayne stop by or help with our searches. The rumors of the shirt are not rumors we did in fact find Robins shirt in the water 2 houses away from the Pope house. I as well as Rachael and Priscilla confirmed it was Robins shirt.
November 4, 2015 and yet we still are looking for answers so sad 🙁
I did a search on the internet for Robin Pope yesterday. That’s when I learned of her death. I was shocked. I remembered liking her music as a teenager. I found a “Robyn Pope” and some beautiful music. I am so sorry. I wish I had the tape my friend had given me 30-some years ago.