Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Police say body likely is missing girl, 2
MILWAUKEE — A child’s body found wrapped in a blanket along a Minnesota highway is believed to be that of a missing 2-year-old girl whose mother police have said was fatally shot by her former pimp, authorities announced Saturday.
The discovery of the child’s body came hours after officials had put out a plea asking “the entire nation” to help find Noelani Robinson, whose father, Dariaz Higgins, is charged with killing her mother on Monday in Milwaukee. Police had said the child could be anywhere because her parents had traveled widely.
An off-duty public-works employee found the body that’s believed to be Noelani’s while driving home Friday night, Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales told reporters. The body was inside a blanket off the shoulder of Minnesota 218 north of Austin, about 300 miles west of Milwaukee, Morales said.
How and when the child died is not yet known. An autopsy has not been conducted, but authorities believe the death did not occur in the 24 hours before the body was discovered.
Authorities have not disclosed a motive in the death of the girl’s mother, Sierra Robinson, 24. Police say Higgins was Robinson’s pimp and they had been romantically involved but were no longer together. Robinson had left Noelani with Higgins when she moved to Las Vegas last month but wanted her back, authorities said.
Higgins, 34, is accused of fatally shooting Robinson and wounding one of her friends. Police arrested him Wednesday and prosecutors have charged him with first-degree intentional homicide.