The family of Sade Robinson, who was murdered after meeting a man for a first date, is outraged after a public official posted a photograph of a human arm found in Illinois that could belong to their loved one.
Robinson’s relatives and search parties have been working tirelessly to find all of her body parts after she was allegedly killed and dismembered by Maxwell Anderson in Wisconsin in early April.
Investigators are working to confirm whether an arm that recently washed up on a lake beach in Illinois belonged to the 19-year-old woman. The severed arm was found on the Waukegan Municipal Beach in Illinois last Saturday evening. The Waukegan beach is on the coast of Lake Michigan and is about an hour south of the lake beach near Milwaukee, where several of Robinson’s body parts were found.
However, Robinson’s mother, Sheena Scarbrough, told the Journal Sentinel that she was disgusted after Waukegan Alderman Keith Turner posted the photograph online.
“I respectfully want him held accountable. I want him reprimanded,” she said, according to the local news publication. “We’re dealing with trauma.”
Waukegan police notified the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office about the arm. Investigators are currently awaiting DNA results to confirm if it’s Robinson’s arm, but they did inform Robinson’s family of the discovery. Those test results could come back as early as this week.
Waukegan police are working on their end to see if they can find more links to Robinson’s murder in Illinois. They haven’t found any more of the 19-year-old’s remains at this time.
Robinson was reported missing on April 2, the day after she went on a date with 33-year-old Anderson. After she didn’t show up for work, concerned co-workers called 911. That same day, police found her scorched car in an alley with clothes she was wearing the night of the date.
Someone also called authorities after finding a “sawn-off” leg at the Warnimont beach park along Lake Michigan in Cudahy, Wisconsin. More body parts belonging to Robinson were found in the weeks after, including a torso and another arm that was discovered on a beach in South Milwaukee on April 18.
Anderson has been charged with Robinson’s murder, and he is still in jail on a $5 million bond.
Investigators learned that he took Robinson back to his house after the two went out for dinner and drinks. They used surveillance video, phone records, and witness statements to tie Anderson to Robinson’s death. They found gasoline canisters and blood inside Anderson’s home and on some of his furnishings but later learned through forensic analysis that the blood did not belong to Robinson.
According to local news reports, Anderson recently sold that home while he was in jail. WISN 12 News reported property records from the state’s Department of Revenue that reveal he sold the home on May 3 for $195,000 to two LLCs.
A representative for those LLCs said the sellers did tell the new owners about the house’s connection to a heinous crime, but they didn’t look into it further. The buyers also did not know Anderson’s family or about his alleged connection to a grisly murder.
“The buyers didn’t even know this story, nor do they watch the news or any of those things,” LLC agent Nanette Sanders told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I didn’t know anything about it either. I don’t watch the news.”
Anderson’s father, Steven Anderson, said any claims that the buyers did not see any news reports regarding his son are “unequivocally false.”
“The seller’s representatives were transparent in all aspects of the transaction, and the significantly reduced sales price reflected the impact the controversy had on the value of the property,” Steven Anderson said in a statement. “Any comments to the contrary are inaccurate and misleading.”
Deputies said the sale will not impact their investigation.
“If at any point investigators determine they need to re-enter the home, they will secure another search warrant and do so, no matter who owns the home,” the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office told WISN 12 News.
Robinson’s family has been unable to hold a proper burial or funeral service since all of her remains haven’t been recovered yet. They did hold a memorial service in her honor last week.
Since then, seeing the horrifying image of the arm online has made the grieving process more difficult for Robinson’s family, according to her mother.
“It’s completely out of line,” Scarbrough said. “He should know much better.”
According to Waukegan Mayor Ann Taylor, the city did not give the alderman the photograph, and he was “never given permission” to post the image on his page.
“On behalf of the City of Waukegan, I find the posting of an image of this type to be morally disgusting, socially irresponsible, and extremely cruel to the victim’s family,” she said.
Anderson has pleaded not guilty to the charges he faces, including first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse, and arson of property other than a building. If he’s convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
