A Wisconsin man on Friday was charged in the death of a missing 19-year-old whose dismembered leg was found at a local park.
Maxwell Anderson, 33, faces counts of arson, murder and mutilating a corpse in connection to the death of Sade Robinson, who met with the suspect the night that she vanished, according to a criminal complaint obtained by HuffPost.
The teen was reported missing last week by a friend, who told detectives that Robinson had not been returning her calls and failed to show up for work.
According to the friend, Robinson’s Snapchat activity showed that she’d visited a local bar April 1. Police traveled to Robinson’s apartment to conduct a welfare check but could not find her.
On April 2, the Milwaukee Fire Department responded to a vehicle fire. The car, determined to be Robinson’s Honda Civic, had sustained extreme damage, but detectives managed to find clothing that she’d worn the night of her disappearance, along with remnants of her phone.
That same day, detectives learned that a severed human leg was discovered at Warnimont Park. Authorities noted that it appeared to belong to a Black female and was “sawn off” just below the hip. The leg was not in an apparent state of decomposition, and pink nail polish was still on the toes.
The leg was taken to medical examiners who, with the help of detectives, determined that it matched Robinson’s height. “DNA analysis supports the preliminary conclusion” that the leg belonged to Robinson, the criminal complaint said.
Phone records indicated that before her disappearance, Robinson had been messaging Anderson about meeting at a restaurant where he used to work. Surveillance footage showed Robinson and Anderson dining at the restaurant for about an hour before leaving. A bartender there told detectives that Anderson had come in to pick up a W-2 but stayed at the establishment for a “first date.”
On April 4, detectives searched Anderson’s home, where they found blood on a bed and on walls leading toward the basement, according to the complaint. In the basement, they said they discovered multiple gasoline containers. Anderson was taken into custody that same day after officers flagged him down in a traffic stop.
A human foot and “another piece of what appeared to be human flesh” were then located April 6 in a wooded area about a block away from where Robinson’s car was burned.
At a press conference Friday morning, officials said that they had yet to determine a motive in the case and were still searching for the rest of Robinson’s remains.
Speaking at a Friday court hearing, Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Ian Vance-Curzan alleged that the suspect had gone to “tremendous” lengths to cover up the teen’s death, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
A lawyer listed for Anderson did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
In an online fundraiser, a family acquaintance described Robinson as “a loving daughter, a cherished sister, and a dear friend” who was pursuing a career in criminal justice.
“The pain of losing Sade has left a void in the hearts of her family, especially her grieving mother and little sister, along with other relatives, friends, and the entire community who loved and supported her,” read a page for the fundraiser.