Police investigating death of woman found on reservation as suicide
By Andee Erickson via Duluth News Tribune
The St. Louis County Sheriff's Office and the Fond du Lac Police Department are down to a couple of possible theories to explain the death of 31-year-old Wahbinmigisi "Pennie" Robertson, St. Louis County Sgt. Wade Rasch said.
Robertson, a mother of five children, was last seen May 24 and was found by volunteer searchers Saturday evening on the Fond du Lac Reservation in a heavily wooded area near Mahnomen Road.
Initially, law enforcement investigated the death as a homicide, but an autopsy at the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office showed no signs of assault or violence, according to St. Louis County.
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"Suicide is not only a possiblity — it ... is the probability at this point. But we're still just working on a few things to verify that," Rasch said.
Rasch and Fond du Lac police investigator Kelly Hatfield were at the medical examiner's office Sunday talking with the forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy.
Fond du Lac police were notified that Robertson was missing May 28 and assigned the case to Hatfield the following morning, Fond du Lac Police Chief Herb Fineday said.
St. Louis County has been working with Fond du Lac police on conducting interviews since Friday. The two agencies will continue to investigate the death. Toxicology results have not yet been returned.
Robertson was originally from Hinckley and a member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.
A community care dinner and discussion will be held from 5-8 p.m. Friday, June 7, at the Fond du Lac Cloquet Community Center.
The Gitchigumi Scouts, an organization dedicated to minimizing the number of missing and murdered indigenous women, is hosting the event in response to the various losses and hardships the Fond du Lac Reservation and community have recently experienced, including the death of 16-year-old Ausineese Aubin Dufault, who died of a gunshot wound in Duluth's Lincoln Park neighborhood May 27.