Authorities in the greater DC area said Friday a 35-year-old man charged with the murder of two women last month may be a serial killer and the prime suspect in the deaths of two other women, an extensive investigation shows whether there are more victims. Investigators believe Anthony Robinson, whom they have dubbed the “shopping cart killer,” meets his victims on dating websites and allegedly lures them to motels, where he kills them and puts their bodies in shopping carts. Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said during a news conference Friday, “We are in the process of doing a retrospective investigation with many other partners to find out where he has been,” Davis said. “And we will work with our law enforcement partners, homicide detectives, and missing detectives to see if we can identify other victims and families and communities he has harmed.” Found on open lot in Harrisonburg, Virginia, a short distance apart on November 11, according to Harrisonburg police. Police identified the victims as Elizabeth Redmon, 54, of Harrisonburg, and Tonita Lorice Smith, 39, of Charlottesville. Police said Robinson was arrested due to video surveillance and cell phone recordings linking him to Redmon and Smith. Robinson is being held in a Harrisonburg prison for double first degree murder on charges of hiding, transporting, or tampering with a body, authorities said. CNN couldn’t get an attorney for Robinson. Harrisonburg Police Department and Charlottesville Police Department conducted two separate missing person investigations that narrowed the focus for both departments to the vacant lot, Harrisonburg Police Chief Kelley Warner said. Police believe Redmon and Smith died at different times, Warner added. 30, the Metropolitan Police Department contacted Harrisonburg police after determining that Robinson could be the last person to have contact with Cheyenne Brown, a missing person from Washington, DC, Warner said. Authorities found that Robinson was communicating with Brown through a dating website shortly before her disappearance. Harrisonburg police found, using cell phone recordings, Robinson and Brown’s contact “in and around” a motel called the Moon Inn on the Richmond Highway in Alexandria, Virginia, Warner said Dec. 7, Fairfax County Detectives received a call for help from the DC Police Department for help locating Brown. Detectives were informed that Brown, 29, took the subway from DC to the Huntington subway station in Virginia on Sept. 30 and never returned, said Major Ed O’Carroll of Fairfax’s Major Crimes and Cyber and Forensics Bureau. Fairfax detectives and the Metro Transit Police Department issued a cellular data search warrant that confirmed Brown and Robinson were in the same location on September 30, the night they disappeared, O’Carroll said around the Moon Inn, said O’Carroll. Detectives found the human remains of two people in a container near the shopping cart, he added. Authorities “tentatively” believe the remains recovered from the container are Brown’s, based on a “very distinct tattoo” she had on her body identified by her family, O’Carroll said. The identity of the other person, whose remains were also found in the container, is still unknown, but authorities said Robinson was a suspect in that death positively and scientifically confirm their identity, “said O’Carroll.
Authorities in the greater DC area said Friday a 35-year-old man charged with the murder of two women last month may be a serial killer and the prime suspect in the deaths of two other women, an extensive investigation shows is ongoing determine if there are more victims.
Investigators believe Anthony Robinson, whom they have described as a “shopping cart killer,” meets his victims on dating websites and allegedly lures them to motels, where he then kills them and transports their bodies in shopping carts, police chief Kevin Davis said from Fairfax County during a Friday press conference.
“We are in the process of doing a retrospective study with many other partners to find out where he has been,” said Davis. “And we will work with our law enforcement partners, homicide detectives and missing detectives, to see if we can identify other victims and families and communities that he has harmed.”
Robinson, 35, was charged with the death of two women, according to Harrisonburg Police Department, who were found a short distance apart on November 23 in an open lot in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Police identified the victims as Elizabeth Redmon, 54, from Harrisonburg, and Tonita Lorice Smith, 39, from Charlottesville. Police said Robinson was arrested due to video surveillance and cell phone recordings linking him to Redmon and Smith.
Fairfax County Police Department
Elizabeth Redmon
Fairfax County Police Department
Tonita Smith
Robinson is being held in Harrisonburg prison on two counts of first degree murder, in addition to two charges of hiding, transporting, or tampering with a body, authorities said.
CNN couldn’t get an attorney for Robinson.
Harrisonburg Police Department and Charlottesville Police Department conducted two separate missing persons investigations that narrowed the focus for both departments to the vacant lot, Harrisonburg Police Chief Kelley Warner said. Police believe Redmon and Smith died at different times, Warner added.
On Nov. 30, the Metropolitan Police Department contacted Harrisonburg police after determining that Robinson could be the last person to have contact with Cheyenne Brown, a missing person from Washington, DC, Warner said. Authorities found that Robinson was communicating with Brown through a dating website shortly before her disappearance.
Harrisonburg police used cell phone recordings to determine that Robinson and Brown’s contact was “in and around” a motel called the Moon Inn on the Richmond Highway in Alexandria, Virginia, Warner said.
On December 7th, Fairfax County detectives received a call for help from the DC Police Department to help them find Brown. Detectives were informed that Brown, 29, took the subway from DC to the Huntington subway station in Virginia on Sept. 30 and never returned, said Major Ed O’Carroll of Fairfax’s Major Crimes and Cyber and Forensics Bureau.
Fairfax detectives and the Metro Transit Police Department issued a search warrant on cellular data that confirmed Brown and Robinson were at the same location on September 30, the night they disappeared, O’Carroll said.
Fairfax County Police Department
The shopping cart pictured above was located in a remote wooded area near the human remains found in the Alexandria neighborhood of Fairfax County.
On December 15, homicide investigators found a shopping cart in the wooded area of the Moon Inn, O’Carroll said. Investigators found the human remains of two people in a container near the shopping cart, he added.
Authorities “tentatively” believe the remains recovered from the container are Brown’s, based on a “very distinct tattoo” she had on her body that was identified by her family, O’Carroll said. The identity of the other person, whose remains were also found in the container, is still unknown, but authorities said Robinson was a suspect in the death.
Authorities chose not to wait for a positive DNA test or dental verification to share information about Brown as a potential victim because they believe there might be other victims in the area, Davis said.
“We are working with the Department of Forensic Science to conduct additional DNA testing to positively and scientifically confirm their identity,” said O’Carroll.
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