Search for Sade Robinson's remains continues in Milwaukee while key questions of the case linger; suspect Maxwell Anderson seeks a trial

It’s been over three weeks since Sade Robinson went missing and was later found to be killed and dismembered.

In the time since, suspect Maxwell Anderson pleaded not guilty to charges and asked to go to trial.

Prosecutors believe Anderson met up with the 19-year-old Robinson for a date April 1, then killed and mutilated her. Body parts believed to belong to Robinson have been found at various locations around Milwaukee County after she was reported missing.

Blood was found at Anderson’s home but does not match Robinson’s DNA.

Anderson remains in custody.

Before she was killed, 19-year-old Robinson was set to graduate from Milwaukee Area Technical College with a degree in criminal justice and was mulling joining the U.S. Air Force. She had worked at the east side eatery Pizza Shuttle for three years, where she was a customer and coworker favorite.

A GoFundMe was started to cover a memorial service and other necessities for the family.

As the case and investigation continue, questions continue to linger. The Journal Sentinel asked top law enforcement officials about these before a Milwaukee Community Justice Council event Wednesday.

Here’s the latest.

Search for Sade Robinson's remains continues as criticisms, questions of police mount

Community members — and Robinson’s family — have been outspoken in criticism of law enforcement’s investigation into the case. Among the criticisms is that, early on, community members found a blanket of Robinson’s in an area police had already searched, and that so far, many of her remains have been located by community members.

Last week, James Burnett, the public information officer for the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office, told the Journal Sentinel that there have been dozens of searches. “The search is ongoing," he said. "It's consistent, it's constant, it's daily."

On Wednesday, Sheriff Denita Ball told the Journal Sentinel that the department is still conducting additional searches but could not provide further detail. She said the department is “dotting our Is, crossing our Ts.”

"We’ve gone back to some of the places that we’ve searched before, just to make sure that we’re not leaving any stone unturned," she said.

The same day, Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said it is “an ongoing case, we still have an active investigation.”

“I know that we’re not letting any particular evidence not be searched for, so we have an ongoing, looking at not only searching for other witnesses, anything that will help us further the investigation along," he said.

Whose blood was found in Maxwell Anderson’s home?

On Monday, it was publicly announced that blood found at Anderson’s home was not Robinson's.

The criminal complaint against Anderson initially said blood was found throughout his home: on bedding in a bedroom, a stairwell wall to the basement, and in an unspecific location. The complaint did not say the blood was Robinson’s, but the mention led many to believe it was connected to the case.

On Monday, the complaint's amendment was made public and said the following:

“Complainant knows that preliminary testing of the blood was done by the Wisconsin State Crime Lab, and that the preliminary DNA analysis supports the conclusion that there is no support for inclusion of Robinson’s DNA in any of the blood or swabs tested, and of some of those swabs, Robinson’s DNA is excluded.”

Sheriff Ball said they do not have information on who the blood belonged to.

Kent Lovern, the chief deputy to District Attorney John Chisholm, also said he doesn't have information on whose blood was found. He largely deferred to comments made in court on Monday by Assistant District Attorney Ian Vance-Curzan, or declined to comment due to it being a pending court case.

"It indicates that the preliminary DNA supports the conclusion that there is no support for inclusion of Robinson's DNA in the blood, or swabs that have been tested," Vance-Curzan said in court.

A 'significant amount of blood' was found in Maxwell Anderson's house; it wasn't Sade Robinson's

Asked why the mention of the blood was included in the complaint when it was known to not be Robinson's, Ball said: "Because we didn’t know where she was killed and there was a significant amount of blood. So, we wanted to make sure our bases were covered."

Asked whether how it was framed in the complaint was normal, she responded: "There's nothing normal about this investigation."

She said she could not provide any more detail.

Investigators say there's no reason to believe there are other victims

The announcement that the blood was not Robinson's has raised the question of who the blood belonged to.

Ball said the office had no reason to believe there were other victims at this time, but they continue to investigate.

“We’re still investigating, just to make sure that we haven’t missed anything,” she said.

The office is still waiting on results from the other remains found, to determine if they are Robinson’s, Ball also said.

Maxwell Anderson’s house has been searched twice by police

An April 14 Facebook post seemed to show Anderson’s father Steven Anderson on his son's south side property.

Community members have said that Anderson's father has been at the home, and captured photos that show a man appearing to remove items from the property last week.

The Journal Sentinel was unable to identify the man, and attempts to reach Anderson's father have been unsuccessful.

Ball said there would be nothing wrong with Anderson's father entering the home once it was released as a crime scene. "Anyone that he allowed in the home can enter the home," she said.

On Thursday, Burnett said that at no point, aside from when the house was being searched via search warrant on two occasions, was the home closed off to the Anderson family.

He said that there was no concern of the "sanctity" of any evidence in the home being affected by it not being closed off.

"Everything they (investigators) sought and when they sought it, they got it," Burnett said. "Should there be an additional need ... then they'll submit another search warrant."

Asked if the home was considered a crime scene, Burnett said, "That's an interesting question, I'm not going to say that ... The home was part of this criminal investigation."

Anderson’s father released a statement on April 18 addressing Robinson’s family.

“On behalf of myself and my family, I would like to express our deepest sympathy and heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of Sade Robinson. We are shocked and devastated by her senseless death," Steven Anderson wrote in a statement released by the attorney firm representing Maxwell Anderson.

Steven Anderson ended the statement by requesting the media respect his family's privacy.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Whose blood was in Maxwell Anderson's house? Sade Robinson timeline