Human arm found on Waukegan beach possibly linked to Milwaukee student missing after date

WAUKEGAN, Ill. -- Waukegan police are investigating after a human arm was found washed up on a beach in the north suburb last weekend.

The Lake County Coroner's Office said they received a call from the Waukegan Police Department at about 8:20 p.m. Saturday about an arm that was found by a person walking on Waukegan Municipal Beach. The coroner's office said the person spotted the arm on the ground next to the tree and called police.

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Waukegan police confirmed the arm "may be related to another case being worked on in Wisconsin," but did not give any further details.

The coroner confirmed the arm belonged to a woman and forensic analysis of it is currently being conducted. They also confirmed they're working with authorities in Milwaukee to see if there is a link to an open case there.

Sade Robinson, 19, was reported missing after she didn't show up for her shift at a Wisconsin pizza restaurant on April 2.

READ MORE: Trail of evidence leads to arrest after college student goes missing after 1st date; body part found

They do not expect to be able to identify the arm until next week at the earliest, the coroner's office said.

Police said they conducted an extensive search of the area after receiving the call, but did not find any other remains.

The evening before she disappeared, Robinson had planned a first date with Maxwell Anderson, 33, at a local seafood restaurant, according to a criminal complaint against Anderson. He has been charged with homicide, mutilation of a corpse, and arson in connection with Robinson's death.

The morning after her date with Anderson, Robinson's vehicle was discovered on fire. The 2020 Civic had sustained "extreme fire damage completely damaging the interior," according to the criminal complaint. Despite the fire damage, authorities were able to identify the outfit Robinson had been wearing the night of the date, as well as part of an iPhone consistent with her phone in the burned car.

Later the same day, police were called to the scene of another gruesome discovery: a human leg on the beach in Warnimont Park, in the Milwaukee suburb of Cudahy, which appeared "sawn off" at the hip, according to the criminal complaint. An examination determined the leg belonged to a Black woman, approximately 5 feet tall. It was identified as Robinson's using preliminary DNA evidence, the complaint states.

And on April 6, as police canvassed the area where Robinson's car had been found, they identified more remains, including a human foot and "what appeared to be human flesh." All appeared to come from the same person, the complaint said.

Phone records found by a friend of Robinson's and her mother using a location-sharing app were detailed in the complaint. They show Robinson's phone traveling the night of April 1 from the seafood restaurant to a nearby sports bar, then to Anderson's home and then to the park where the remains were discovered.

Anderson is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse, and arson of property other than a building. He would face life in prison if convicted on the homicide charge.

The complaint details evidence police say ties Anderson to the crimes, including surveillance video, witness accounts and phone records. Authorities also found blood in Anderson's house and "several gasoline containers," it states.

The complaint says evidence led authorities to conclude Robinson was dead.

"The facts mentioned in this complaint cause Complainant to conclude that the Defendant intentionally killed and then dismembered Robinson with the intent to conceal the homicide, and it occurred between the arrival at the Defendant's residence and his departure from the Warnimont Park area," it states.

Anthony Cotton, an attorney representing Anderson, told CNN his client "is presumed innocent and we will fight this matter vigorously in court."

ABC7 Chicago contributed to this report