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Police suspect serial killer in recent Harrisonburg, Charlottesville women's deaths

Fairfax Co. Police

Two women who were found dead in Harrisonburg last month are now thought to be victims of a serial killer. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.

Harrisonburg Police Chief Kelley Warner joined Fairfax County Police on Friday for a press conference about a murderer who’s been dubbed the Shopping Cart Killer. The suspect, 35 year old Anthony Robinson, was arrested last month and charged with the murders of two missing women – Allene "Beth" Redmon, of Harrisonburg, and Tonita Lorice Smith of Charlottesville. Their bodies were found in an empty lot on Linda Lane in Harrisonburg.

The remains of two other victims were found recently in a wooded area in Fairfax County in a 'large plastic container' near a shopping cart. In the press conference, police said that there is video evidence of Robinson transporting his victims' bodies in shopping carts. One set of the remains in Fairfax has been tentatively identified as Cheyenne Brown, who went missing from D.C. on September 30th. The fourth set of remains has not yet been identified, although law enforcement said they do have leads.

For the three victims who have been identified with some level of confidence, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis explained the killer's M.O.

KEVIN DAVIS: The commonality is, how did they meet? Dating sites. How are they killed? Trauma to the body. How are they transported to their final resting place? A shopping cart. Hence the shopping cart killer… We know who he is, thank God. He's behind bars right now. But that still doesn't take away from the urgency that exists to identify any other victims that might be out here … beyond the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Fairfax County Police Department at 703-246-7800. 

Randi B. Hagi first joined the WMRA team in 2019 as a freelance reporter. Her writing and photography have been featured in The Harrisonburg Citizen, where she previously served as the assistant editor; as well as The Mennonite; Mennonite World Review; and Eastern Mennonite University's Crossroads magazine.