Virginia Lacking Flyer Alerts Unidentified Sufferer of Procuring Cart Killer | Headlines

Fairfax County police investigators fly to California to collect DNA samples in hopes of identifying the fourth victim of the man known as the “shopping cart killer.”

Anthony Guglielmi, senior spokesman for the Fairfax County Police Department, told WTOP detectives that the victim could be Stephanie Harrison, a California woman who was last heard from on August 19, 2021.

An important clue was a missing person poster that was recorded on US 1.

Police said Friday that Anthony Eugene Robinson was suspected of killing at least four people whose remains were found in Fairfax County and Harrisonburg.

Robinson is currently charged with two first degree murder after two female victims were found on vacant property in Harrisonburg in late November. These victims were identified as Allene Elizabeth Redmon, 54, from Harrisonburg, and Tonita Lorice Smith, 39, from Charlottesville.

Fairfax County Police said human remains were found in a remote wooded area near the 2400 block of Fairhaven Avenue in Fairfax County last Wednesday. The remains were placed in a large plastic container next to a shopping cart near a motel called the Moon Inn.

Although police are still waiting for DNA verification, police believe one of the victims is 29-year-old Cheyenne Brown from southeast DC after her family members discovered her tattoos. Robinson spoke to Brown on a dating site and was four months pregnant at the time of her death.

“When we found the body, we also found these random leaflets on Route 1,” Guglielmi said. “There’s no missing person report for this woman in Fairfax County, Alexandria, or Arlington.”

“We contacted the Redding, California police after seeing this and they actually have a report,” added Guglielmi. “We believe, based on the flyers and check-in records, that she stayed in the same hotel as our killer.”

Guglielmi said detectives would collect more forensic evidence to help identify the fourth victim.

“We’re going to go there to get a DNA sample just to be sure,” said Guglielmi. “If it matches the DNA of the recovered body, we have to work backwards to find out how they intersected.”

The missing person flyer was created by The Aware Foundation, a security awareness group in Roanoke, Virginia that helps families and friends get the word out about a missing person through social media and working with law enforcement.

“I’ve been on the phone with Stephanie Harrison’s sister for most of the evening. She is 99.9% certain that her sister is the fourth victim of the serial killer, ”said Kenny Jarels, founder of the Aware Foundation.

According to the flyer, Harrison was visiting the country’s capital on August 19 when her sister last heard from her.

The poster created in September said bank records showed Stephanie Harrison checked into the Moon Inn. “This is the last time anyone heard from her,” said the missing person’s poster.

“It was Stephanie’s daughter who first found out that her mother lived at the Moon Inn,” says Stephanie’s sister Joei to WTOP. “She checked her bank a few days later after no one heard from her.”

The flyer also says: “Stephanie suffers from schizophrenia, needs medication and may need medical help. She is very vulnerable and gullible in her state of mind. “

Jarels said Harrison’s sister, who lives in California, had a friend laminated over 300 flyers that were posted by volunteers in Fairfax County near Alexandria and elsewhere across the DC region.

Guglielmi said police are awaiting additional forensic evidence before indicting Robinson related to the two bodies found in the plastic container.

“It will take a while. We will need the confirmed IDs from the DNA and hopefully the autopsy will reveal the cause and type of death. We have enough evidence to put him on the scene with (Cheyenne Brown), and science will have to carry us the rest of the way to prove he killed her. “

“We want to find out who that fourth body is,” said Guglielmi, “and we’re trying to see if there are any more missing person cases in Alexandria City, Arlington or the district that might coincide with the MO.”

Neal Augenstein has been a reporter at WTOP since 1997. Over the years, Neal has covered many of the crimes and trials that have gripped the region. Neal has enjoyed the hard news, feature coverage, use of sound, and sports awards over the years. Contact I am naugenstein@wtop.com