Body of woman, 22, is discovered
She is found in a vehicle left at Liberty Hospital, and her boyfriend is charged with murder.
Joseph L. Hill
Heather and Isaiah Robbins
Heather J. Robbins was 22 years old, a single mother of an 8-month-old boy and recently laid off from her job.
But she always looked for the best in people, said her father, Raymond Robbins.
She paid the price for that unbounded optimism, he said Wednesday, after the rural Plattsburg woman"s body was found in the trunk of a vehicle abandoned at Liberty Hospital.
'She was a beautiful
and intelligent girl who deserved a chance and didn"t get it, her father said, fighting back tears. 'She should be burying me; I shouldn"t be burying her.
Joseph L. Hill, of Raymore, her boyfriend and the father of the baby, Isaiah, was charged Wednesday with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in connection with Robbins" death. Hill, 20, is being held in the Cass County Detention Center on $1 million bond and is expected to be transferred to Clinton County today.Heather Robbins lived with her father in rural Plattsburg for about four years after growing up in Holt, said Dorothy Robbins, her grandmother. She met Hill about 2â┚¬�Ã…¡ÃƒÆ’ƒâ┚¬Ã…¡ÃƒÆ’”�Å¡½ years ago, and during that period, Hill occasionally lived with Robbins and her father, Raymond Robbins said.
Authorities in Clinton County, where they said Robbins was killed, would not say how she died. Details surrounding the slaying and how Hill ended up in Cass County were not being released because at least one other person may have been involved, sai
d Corey Sloan, a spokesman for the Northwest Missouri Major Investigation Squad.
Relatives reported Robbins and her son missing shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday. Sloan said the Clinton County Sheriff"s Department went to the Robbins residence in the 1400 block of Southwest Town and Country Lane in rural Plattsburg to look for them.
Around 9:45 p.m., Clinton County dispatchers received a call from Liberty police, who said they had information that there was a body in the trunk of a vehicle inside a parking garage at Liberty Hospital.
Police found the vehicle, then contacted the Clay County prosecutor"s office and obtained a search warrant.
Isaiah was later found unharmed with Hill. Investigators had initially identified Hill as a person of interest in Robbins" death, but he was later taken into custody by Cass County authorities and was placed in protective custody.
Family members returned to the Robbins home Wednesday evening to lock up after investigators searched it for evidence.
Robbins had w
orked for Hallmark Cards, but had recently been laid off, her father said.
Peggy Flores, an employee at JJ"s Restaurant in Plattsburg, said Robbins was a frequent visitor to the restaurant, and often ate there with Hill and Isaiah.
'They seemed to adore the baby, Flores said. 'They were just very quiet.
