Fairfax County police in Virginia are searching through motel receipts, seeking other possible victims of the man suspected of killing at least four people whose remains were found in Alexandria and Harrisonburg.
Anthony Eugene Robinson was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and disposing of the bodies of two female victims. Both victims were found in a vacant Harrisonburg lot in late November.
Those victims were identified as 54-year-old Allene Elizabeth Redmon of Harrisonburg and 39-year-old Tonita Lorice Smith of Charlottesville.
“The Moon Inn provided police with large plastic bags filled with paper receipts and lodging records,” Anthony Guglielmi, lead spokesman for the Fairfax County Police Department, told WTOP on Tuesday. “Detectives are physically combing through all the documentation in order to complete an investigative timeline, which we hope provides additional detail as to when and how often our suspect frequented the establishment.”
Guglielmi said detectives expect to receive DNA confirmation in the next few days before charging Robinson in connection with two deaths, after human remains were found last Wednesday in an isolated wooded area near the 2400 block of Fairhaven Avenue in Fairfax County. The remains were placed in a large plastic container by a shopping cart near the Moon Inn on U.S. Route 1.
On Dec. 19, WTOP reported detectives were flying to California to gather DNA samples as they work to confirm the identity of the fourth victim. Fairfax County police believe one of the victims is 29-year-old Cheyenne Brown, of Southeast D.C., after her family members recognized her tattoos. Guglielmi said detectives believe the second victim could be Stephanie Harrison, a California woman last heard from on Aug. 19.
After confirming the identity of the two Fairfax County victims, Guglielmi expects the focus of the investigation to shift toward determining other potential victims.
“We’re going to talk more about the dating sites, because between us and Harrisonburg, we’ve identified several where he’s been talking to potential targets,” Guglielmi said. “We’d like to get in touch with anyone who may have come across his activity over the last couple of years.”
Police have not specified the dating sites that Robinson may have frequented.
On Dec. 17, when identifying the suspected serial killer, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said the man dubbed the “Shopping Cart Killer” meets victims from online dating sites at motels before killing them and transporting their remains in shopping carts to “their final resting place.”
Guglielmi said lead investigators held a virtual meeting with 36 local, state and federal police departments on Monday “[to] see if they have any cases, and bring this back up on the radar” after the holiday break.
Robinson’s next scheduled court appearance is a preliminary hearing in Harrisonburg on May 9.
When contacted by WTOP, Harrisonburg defense attorney Louis Nagy did not comment.
