HARRISONBURG, Va. (WINA) – The body of Tonita Lorice Smith, the Charlottesville woman declared missing on Nov, 22, was recovered near the body of a missing Harrisonburg woman in that city on Nov 24.
The women’s bodies were found not far from each other in an undeveloped lot less than half a mile away from a Harrisonburg middle school.
Their deaths, however, took place at different times. The Virginia Medical Examiner’s Office is now determining when and how the two women died.
Anthony Robinsion, 35, of Washington, D.C., is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of concealing a body. He is being held without bond in the Rockingham-Harrisonburg Regional Jail.
Nov 24, 2021, Harrisonburg PD News Release
HARRISONBURG, Va. – The Harrisonburg Police Department (HPD) has identified the two individuals found dead Tuesday night in the area of Linda Lane as Allene Elizabeth “Beth” Redmon, 54, of Harrisonburg and Tonita Lorice Smith, 39, of Charlottesville.
HPD arrested Anthony Robinson, 35, of Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. Robinson is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in addition to two felony counts of concealing, transporting or altering a dead body.
HPD is not currently seeking any additional suspects related to this incident. HPD and the Charlottesville Police Department were conducting two separate missing persons investigations which resulted in narrowing the focus of their search for Ms. Redmon
and Ms. Smith to an area near Linda Lane. The bodies of both women were discovered by detectives from Harrisonburg Police Department’s Major Crimes Unit in an undeveloped lot off Linda Lane within a short distance of each other, though their deaths took place at different times.
The Virginia Medical Examiner’s Office has taken over the forensic investigation and has yet to determine the exact time or cause of death for either victim.
If you have information that could assist this investigation, please call Detective Wetherell at 540-432-7788 or email her at leslie.wetherell@harrisonburgva.gov. Anonymous tips related to this incident, or any crime can be sent to Crime Solvers at (540) 574-5050 or by texting “HPD” plus their tip to CRIMES (274637)
