Austin Motel Searched as Part of Noelani Robinson Investigation
Blooming Prairie, MN (KROC-AM News) - Investigators have determined the child found dead along a southern Minnesota highway died from blunt for trauma to the head.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is leading the investigation and this afternoon announced the victim has been preliminarily identified as 2-year-old Noelani Robinson. It’s estimated her body had been at the site in a ditch along Highway 218 just north of Blooming Prairie for a number of days.
The remains were found by a passerby Friday evening, who reported seeing possible remains under a blanket. The Blooming Prairie Police Department and the Steele County Sheriff’s Department responded to the scene around 6 PM and soon after requested the assistance of the BCA.
Police in Milwaukee Wisconsin issued an Amber Alert for Noelami shortly after the girl’s mother was murdered and another woman was wounded, allegedly by the child’s father, Dariaz Higgins. He was arrested on Wednesday at a motel in Milwaukee and, according to the Amber Alert, it was believed the little girl might have been in the safeguard of another person.
BCA agents responded to the crime scene in Steele County last night and were assisted by Austin Police in executing a search warrant at hotel in Austin, where investigators believe Higgins stayed at one point during the past week.