Insets, from left: Richard Robinson and Meihong "Kiki" He (The Dalles Police Department). Background: The storage unit on West 6th Street in The Dalles, Wash., where Robinson allegedly hid He's body (Google Maps).
A man is facing charges in Washington state and Oregon after he allegedly killed his fiancee and drove around with her body in a plastic tote for days before he hid the remains in a storage unit.
Richard Michael Robinson, 59, is charged with second-degree murder in Washington state and abuse of a corpse in Oregon in the death of Meihong "Kiki" He.
The Dalles Police Department began investigating on July 29, 2025, when human remains were recovered from a tote in a storage unit on West 6th Street. The remains were later identified as He, a Chinese national who was last seen on May 25, 2024, in Glenwood, a rural area in southwest Washington.
Cops identified Robinson as the suspect. U.S. Marshals took him into custody in Colorado on Aug. 25, 2025.
Portland Fox affiliate KPTV and local news site Columbia Community Connection obtained a probable cause arrest affidavit that allegedly details the killing. Authorities first focused on Robinson when He's sister reported her missing. She said she last spoke with He on May 25, 2024, and she subsequently could not reach her. Robinson and He were supposed to be married five days after her disappearance.
Then cops received word about a suspicious man digging 8-foot-deep holes with a backhoe on property that was not his outside Glenwood on June 3, 2024.
Police identified the man as Robinson. He reportedly claimed the holes were for a septic tank, but the property owners said they had no knowledge of Robinson. There was apparently nothing inside the holes.
Asked about He, Robinson claimed he dropped her off to go fishing in Underwood, Washington, the affidavit says. But pressed for further details, Robinson reportedly kept changing his story. First, he allegedly said she was involved in sex work. Then he said a Chinese criminal organization was after her, according to the affidavit.
Investigators questioned him several times without result.
Her remains were located in a 77-gallon plastic tote in the storage unit. The body was wrapped in plastic and tied together with ratchet straps and zip ties, the affidavit reportedly said. A medical examiner determined she died from asphyxiation, and authorities believe she was still alive when Robinson allegedly stuffed her in the tote. To mask the smell, Robinson allegedly packed the tote with charcoal briquettes.
The affidavit reportedly said that Robinson drove around with He's body stuffed in the tote in the back of his truck, even going to his daughter's birthday party, where he told her he did "something bad."
The remains were recovered after someone took possession of the storage unit because Robinson stopped paying for it.
Robinson remains in the Klickitat County Jail. His next court date for the Oregon case is scheduled for Aug. 18.