(CNN) — A man the police have dubbed the “shopping cart killer“It may be related to the body of a fifth victim found in Washington City, authorities said Friday.
Anthony Robinson, 35, has already been charged with the murder of two women.
Investigators believe Anthony Robinson encountered his victims on dating websites and allegedly lured them to motels where he later killed them and transported their bodies in shopping carts.
Police received an “important tip” this week that might connect Robinson to another case in which a woman’s body was found in a shopping cart in Washington City, he said. Ed O’Carroll, Chief of Major Cyber Crimes and Forensics for the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office at a news conference on Friday.
“That deceased woman in a shopping cart was covered only with a blanket. We believe this may be the fifth victim of Anthony Eugene Robinson,” O’Carroll said. It added that the digital evidence places Robinson in the same neighborhood at the time of the victim’s disappearance.
Robinson was charged in November with the deaths of Elizabeth Redmon, 54, of Harrisonburg, and Tonita Lorice Smith, 39, of Charlottesville. Investigators found their bodies Nov. 23 in an open lot in Harrisonburg, Virginia, according to Harrisonburg police.
Police reported that video surveillance and cell phone logs connecting Robinson to Redmon and Smith led to his arrest. He is currently being held at the Rockingham County Adult Detention Center in North Carolina on two counts of manslaughter, in addition to two felonies of concealing, transporting or tampering with a body, authorities said.
CNN contacted the Rockingham County Adult Detention Center and Anthony Guglielmi, director of the Fairfax County Police Office of Public Affairs for comment.
Other alleged victims identified
Speaking at Friday’s press conference, Fairfax County Sheriff Kevin Davis said DNA evidence has confirmed the identities of two other women believed to be Robinson’s victims.
Cheyenne Brown, 29, of Washingto, and Stephanie Harrison, 48, of Redding, California, were found in a container near a shopping cart near the Moon Inn motel in Alexandria, Virginia, on December 15.
Authorities believe Brown had taken the subway from Washington City to the Huntington Metro stop in Virginia on September 30 and never returned. Robinson may have been the last person to have contact with her, O’Carroll said in December.
Police had determined that Robinson was communicating with Brown through a dating website just prior to his disappearance and cell phone records indicated that Robinson and Brown were in contact “in and around the area” of the Moon Inn motel in Richmond. Highway in Alexandria, Virginia, Harrisonburg Police Chief Kelley Warner said in December.
“We found out that Robinson has stayed at the Moon Inn at least five other times, and we need to find out more,” Davis said.
The police chief indicated that the officials requested the support of the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to obtain more information regarding Robinson. They also work with law enforcement in Robinson’s home state of New York, as well as the Harrisonburg Police Department in Virginia.
“In addition, we are working on a victimology profile and we hope to get in touch with other women who may have interacted with Robinson,” Davis said.
Police urge anyone with information regarding Robinson to contact authorities immediately.
“We believe that there are other people who have had contact with Robinson, who can provide us with crucial information regarding him,” Davis added.
CNN’s Emma Tucker contributed to this report.
