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Noelani Robinson’s body was near road for ‘number of days’

Posted at 3:12 PM, Mar 18, 2019
and last updated 2019-03-18 15:12:55-04

STEELE COUNTY, Minn. — The Minnesota Department of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) is investigating the death of a young girl whose body was found on Friday, according to WITI.

Officials said the Southern Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner’s Office has preliminarily identified the victim as Noelani Robinson, 2. The medical examiner determined the preliminary cause and manner of death to be homicide due to blunt force trauma to the head.

Noelani Robinson was taken by a man identified by the Milwaukee Police Department as her father, Dariaz Higgins. They were the subject of an Amber Alert in Wisconsin. Higgins was taken into custody Wednesday by the Milwaukee Police Department at a Milwaukee motel. He is being held in the Milwaukee County Jail on suspicion of murder related the shooting death of Sierra Robinson, Noelani’s mother.

Officials said a passerby reported seeing a blanket and possible remains in a ditch along Highway 218 Friday evening. Law enforcement from the Blooming Prairie Police Department and the Steele County Sheriff’s Office located the child’s body wrapped in a blanket. They said she appeared to have been at that location for a number of days.

BCA agents and crime scene personnel responded to the scene in Steele County and worked throughout the night to collect evidence. In addition, early Monday morning, BCA agents and crime scene personnel executed a search warrant at a hotel in Austin, Minn., where it’s believed Higgins stayed at one point during the past week.