A human arm found on an Illinois beach was identified as belonging to Sade Robinson, a 19-year-old Milwaukee woman who was dismembered after she went on a date with the man now suspected of killing her.
The arm was found on May 11 by a person walking along the Waukegan Municipal Beach, the Lake County Coroner’s Office said. DNA was used to positively identify the arm as belonging to Robinson, according to the coroner.
Robinson’s family was notified of the confirmation on Tuesday.
The beach is about 50 miles from Milwaukee.
“On behalf of the Lake County Coroner’s Office, I want to express our sincere condolences to Sade’s family and friends who continue to endure this tragic loss,” Coroner Jennifer Banek said in a statement.
Attorney Verona Swanigan, who is representing the family, said in a statement Tuesday that Robinson’s mother, Sheena Scarbrough, “is devastated and feels like her heart is being cut out as she is constantly tortured with this accumulating news of her daughter’s heinous murder.”
Other remains, including a torso, another arm, a severed right leg and a foot with pink nail polish, were found in several locations in April.
Her 2020 Honda Civic was discovered on April 2 with heavy interior damage from a fire, according to a criminal complaint.
Swanigan said Robinson’s mother is still waiting “to completely gather her daughter’s belongings to do to her daughter’s last and final move back home.”
“Sheena Scarbrough cannot help but wonder at what ends of the earth her daughter’s head and the remainder of her body may be if her arm traveled all the way to Waukegan, IL.,” the attorney said.
Authorities arrested Maxwell Anderson, 33, of Milwaukee, and charged him with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse and arson in Robinson’s slaying.
The two went on a date April 1, the sheriff’s office said in the complaint.
Video from the area where the severed leg was found allegedly shows a “human figure” descending the bluff toward the beach, the complaint says. Footage from a bus and a convenience store allegedly captured a man walking away from a burning vehicle, according to officials. A witness also said she saw a man get out of Robinson’s car from the driver’s side and toss a lit lighter inside, the complaint says.
Anderson has pleaded not guilty and is being held on $5 million bail.
Swanigan said Robinson’s family wants Anderson to “confess.”
“I want my daughter’s remains! Sade should not have to spend eternity lost because of Anderson’s evil agenda,” Scarbrough said, via the attorney. “I have in anxious torment waited 79 days without being able to see my child or know her whereabouts. I pray law enforcement, or his family will finally get him to talk and set me free from this stabbing pain of not knowing what happened to my daughter or where her remains are located.”
