Member-only story
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.
Now, years 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…
