Naman Shrestha
In 2009, shockwaves were sent across the community of Toledo, Ohio, when a 20-year-old woman named Cindy Sumner was found dead after going missing for several weeks. The mysterious disappearance and murder case is explored in a detailed manner in the episode titled ‘Someone’s Watching Her’ of Investigation Discovery’s ‘The Real Murders on Elm Street.’ As the investigation led the police to an unlikely suspect, they realized that the accused had a criminal rap sheet dating back to 2006.
Cynthia “Cindy” Sumner’s Remains Were Recovered Partially Submerged in an Abandoned Lot
On August 11, 1998, Cynthia Marie Sumner entered the lives of Tim and Mary (LaGrange) Sumner in Toledo, Ohio. She was raised in a nurturing environment in Toledo, Ohio, surrounded by the warmth and care of her loving family. Her grandmother, Rosemary Schumacher, doted upon her, describing her as someone who didn’t have a mean bone in her body. Since Cynthia had Muscular Dystrophy, she was associated with the Muscular Dystrophy Association. For more than a decade, she had been participating in the MDA Telethon, which aimed to raise awareness and gather funds for muscular dystrophy, ALS, and other neuromuscular diseases.
Lovingly referred to as Cindy, she also lived with Cerebral Palsy and learning disabilities, limiting her mental capacity to that of a 12-year-old. Cynthia never let her medical conditions hamper her from leading her life to the fullest, filled with gratitude and kindness towards everyone. She enjoyed riding her bike around the neighborhood in her free time. The Sumners were a tight-knit family who stood by each other through thick and thin. Sadly, their lives turned upside down on August 6, 2009, when the 20-year-old suddenly went missing. The family wasted no time in contacting the authorities, who swiftly began looking for her.
The search and rescue operation continued for weeks until a tip on September 17, 2009, led the authorities to an abandoned warehouse at 1510 Elm Street, an area where Cynthia often rode her bike. Unfortunately, the nightmares of Cynthia’s family and friends turned true when her decomposed remains were recovered in the basement of the lot, partially submerged in water. The identity was confirmed through dental records. Since her remains had been in the water for over four to five weeks, the medical examiners faced a challenge in conducting a forensic examination. Ultimately, the cause of death of Cynthia Marie Sumner was determined to be blunt force trauma. An investigation into her homicide was swiftly launched by the law enforcement authorities.
Cindy Sumner’s Accused Killer Had Multiple Prior Convictions to His Name
As part of the investigation, the detectives reportedly interviewed dozens of Cindy Sumner’s family and friends. Several of them claimed that she was friends with an older man named Elhadi Robbins, who was allegedly one of the last people to see her alive. The investigators learned that Cindy used to frequently visit Jamie Farr Park on her bicycle to meet Elhadi there. Soon, they interviewed him, not as a suspect but as a person who was friends with her. Not only did he claim that he had a consensual sexual relationship with Cindy, but he also provided them with a name that could be a potential suspect in the case, but it turned out to be a dead end.
Upon digging deeper into Elhadi’s life, they found out that he had been convicted in 2006 of using a minor boy illegally in nudity-oriented material. On top of that, he also had a theft conviction to his name. Since he was supposed to register as a sex offender, failure to do so had also gotten him convicted. When the authorities were told two stories about him by a couple of inmates he had met in jail, Elhadi became the prime suspect in the case. One of them claimed that Elhadi had confessed to his infatuation with Cindy, with whom he alleged to have tried sexual acts in the warehouse. The other witness told the detectives that he allegedly told him about how he choked her from behind and disposed of her remains in the dark basement.
The police’s suspicion only grew towards Elhadi as his tennis shoes also matched a footprint they had found near Cindy’s remains. When they interviewed a few homeless people living in and around the warehouse, they claimed to have seen him wear those tennis shoes. As per the investigators’ theory, he brutally attacked Cindy on the fateful day of August 8, 2009, at 1510 Elm Street in Toledo, after which he took her remains to a water-filled boiler room in the basement of the warehouse. After several months of investigation, the 44-year-old Elhadi Robbins was indicted on two counts of murder on February 2, 2010.
Elhadi Robbins Died Before His Trial Could Begin
Following his indictment, Elhadi decided to plead not guilty to the murder charges against him in connection with the killing of Cindy Sumner and take his chances in court. A few years later, he was finally about to stand trial on April 8, 2013. However, just a few days before the trial, on the evening of March 28, the 47-year-old accused reportedly collapsed in a shower in the Lucas County jail. After the corrections officers’ efforts to revive him with CPR failed, he was rushed to a Toledo hospital, where he was pronounced dead after 8 pm the same night. In order to ensure that no foul play was involved in his death, the police also reviewed the video surveillance, which showed that there was nobody else in the showers when Elhadi Robbins collapsed.
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