The mayor called the discovery of a human arm at the Waukegan Beach “horrific” and said law enforcement suspects it belongs to the 19-year-old woman who was murdered on a date in Milwaukee.
The Waukegan Police Department responded around 8 p.m. on May 11 to the Waukegan Municipal Beach, 201 East Sea Horse Drive.
A person walking along the beach saw what they believed to be a human arm on the ground.
Officers arrived and found the arm next to a fallen tree trunk at the beach.
The Lake County Coroner’s Office was notified and responded to the scene.
They confirmed the arm belonged to a human. The right arm was “mostly intact” from the shoulder down, according to Lake County Chief Deputy Coroner Steve Newton.
The arm was transported to the coroner’s office where a forensic pathologist conducted an exam of it on Monday.
Newton said a forensic anthropologist has been requested to perform a further study.
The arm is believed to be from a female. The forensic anthropologist will determine the age and gender of the victim, Newton said.
The coroner’s office said they are also working with a police department in a neighboring state on the investigation.
The police department’s crime lab is in the process of collecting DNA specimens from the arm for analysis.
Waukegan Mayor Ann Taylor said multiple law enforcement agencies believe there is a strong possibility the remains belong to Sade Robinson.
According to FOX6 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Robinson’s family was notified by investigators last Sunday about the discovery of the arm. The DNA testing is still pending.
“The City of Waukegan does not typically comment on ongoing criminal investigations, but l am making this statement as this incident is especially traumatic and has been made public by social media,” Waukegan Mayor Ann Taylor said.
“I hope all Waukeganites join me in prayer for the victim of this horrific crime and for the victim’s family,” Taylor said.
The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office said last month that Robinson, 19, was murdered and dismembered around April 2.
A criminal complaint filed by the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office said Maxwell S. Anderson, 33, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, intentionally killed Robinson, mutilated her remains and set fire to her car in an attempt to obscure potential evidence of the killing.
Robinson met up with Anderson for a first date on the evening of April 1 at the Twisted Fisherman restaurant in Milwaukee before she went missing, the complaint said.
The two were seen at the bar inside the restaurant eating and having drinks together before leaving just over an hour later.
The complaint said a severed human leg was later discovered at Warnimont Park in Cudahy, Wisconsin.
A severed human foot was later located in a wooded area near 31st Street and Galena in Milwaukee.
Both body parts were believed to belong to Robinson based on investigators’ analysis, according to the complaint. Other body parts were also discovered in separate locations in Milwaukee.
Anderson was charged with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse and arson.
Robinson’s family has continued to search for her remains. “The family is still actively searching and just wants closure and this to be able to move forward quickly,” said Dee-Dee Davis, an activist who has been working with the family, FOX6 reported.