- A potential fifth victim of a serial killer was found in a shopping cart in Washington, DC, police said.
- Police said the suspect used dating apps to lure his victims and transported their remains with shopping carts.
- Police also said the identities of the third and fourth victims were confirmed through DNA analysis.
Virginia police believe they have identified a fifth victim of the "shopping cart killer" after receiving a tip earlier in the week, Fairfax County Police Department Major Ed O'Carroll said Friday at a press conference.
Anthony Robinson, 35, was arrested in November and charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Police said they believe he used shopping carts to transport the remains of his victims.
According to O'Carroll, digital evidence placed Robinson in the vicinity of the suspected fifth victim, whose body was found in a shopping cart in Washington, DC, around the time of their disappearance.
"Our detectives have been working to uncover additional digital evidence to find out where Robinson was each and every day over the past year and beyond," O'Carroll said. "We know a lot. But we do need your help about his habits to help uncover additional victims or survivors, and to build a strong, accurate, and detailed case against Robinson."
—Ed O'Carroll (@edocarroll) January 8, 2022
FCPD Police Chief Kevin Davis also said the identities of the third and fourth victims of the "shopping cart killer" was confirmed through DNA analysis. The victims were Cheyenne Brown, 29, of Washington, DC, and Stephanie Harrison, 48, of Redding, California.
Brown was seen with Robinson prior to her death and her last known location was the Moon Inn Hotel on Richmond Highway, according to an FCPD press release. Robinson stayed at the hotel on at least six occasions and used dating apps to lure his victims, Davis said during the press conference.
FCPD has solicited the help of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Behavioral Analysis Unit and Washington field office, as well as authorities in Robinson's home state of New York. The police department in Harrisonburg, Virginia, where the first and second female victims of the "shopping cart killer" were found, is also assisting with the investigation.
Robinson has been charged with the deaths of the first and second victims, 54-year-old Allene Elizabeth Redmon and 39-year-old Tonita Lorice Smith, according to the Harrisonburg Police Department.
"Additionally, we are working on a victimology profile and hoping to get in contact with other women who may have interacted with Robinson," Davis said during the press conference. "Just this week, our detectives met with 35 other police departments in the DMV (Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia] to comb over existing missing person cases to determine if any commonalities exist."
Robinson is currently being held at a jail in Rockingham County and remains the prime suspect in the homicide investigation, Davis said at the press conference.