A Milwaukee man was charged Friday with homicide and mutilating a corpse after a severed leg, believed to be that of a missing 19-year-old woman, was found earlier this month, officials said.
Maxwell Anderson, 33, who was a person of interest in the disappearance of Sade Robinson and who was arrested last week, was charged Friday morning, according to authorities.
The severed leg was found April 2, Milwaukee County Sheriff Denita Ball said at a news conference, and has preliminarily identified as belonging to Robinson.
Milwaukee police also found human remains at three locations, including by railroad tracks, on April 5 and April 6 but identification of those is still pending, Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said.
“This is a horrendous tragedy,” Norman said. He and Ball said the thoughts and prayers of their departments were with the Robinson family.
The district attorney’s office charged Anderson with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse and arson of property other than building, Ball said.
On April 3, Milwaukee police asked the public for help finding Robinson, who had last been seen April 1 and who was considered a “critically missing person.”
Anderson was developed as a “person of interest” on April 4, two days after the leg was found, and he was arrested after a traffic stop, Ball said. A search was conducted of his home, but officials did not say Friday what was found.
Officials also did not disclose a motive, citing an ongoing investigation.
Ball said investigators believe Robinson and Anderson may have met at Anderson’s place of employment, but were working to confirm that.
The investigation is ongoing and law enforcement is continuing to search for Robinson’s remains, Ball said. Investigators don’t have any information that anyone else was involved, she said.
“We don’t believe that there are any other victims out there, and that the person who is responsible for this heinous crime has been arrested,” Ball said.
An attorney listed as representing Anderson did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Friday. Anderson was ordered held in custody in lieu of $5 million bond, court and jail records show.
“This is justice for Sade,” Robinson’s mother, Sheena Scarbrough, said Friday of the criminal charges, NBC affiliate WTMJ of Milwaukee reported.
Family members said they will continue to search for their loved one’s remains.