PASADENA, TEXAS: Texas authorities have identified a potential suspect in the murder and sexual assault of Maria Gonzalez, 11, who was found dead on Sunday, August 13, in a laundry basket under a bed.
When the tragic news first came to light, it was reported that Maria’s father Carmelo Gonzalez found her dead under a bed at the Main Village apartment complex where they lived since the last three months.
Texas officers said that the horrific incident took place when Carmelo left the apartment for work on Saturday at around 10 am and had tried to keep in touch with his daughter via text.
In one of the messages that Maria sent to her father, the girl said that a person was knocking at the door of the apartment.
“I told her don’t open the door because I am arriving at work and she responded I am in my bed,” Gonzalez said, according to Fox 26.
Who is Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez?
Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez has been detained by the officers and is considered to be a person of interest in the murder case.
“Although we continue combing through multiple evidentiary items, including digital media, no arrests have been made however,” Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez, 18, the identified person of interest, “was residing at the same apartment complex where the victim was found but has since left,” the Pasadena Police Department said in an update on the investigation Friday, August 18.
Though police did not detail the person of interest’s immigration status, according to the sources of the US Department of Homeland Security, Garcia-Rodriguez is a migrant who entered the country as a minor as recently as January via El Paso, NewsNation reports.
Carmelo Gonzalez asked family members to check on Maria
While speaking in Spanish in an interview with KRTK, Carmelo said that he asked his family members who lived in the same apartment complex to check on Maria, but they were unable to see or hear the victim at the scene.
The devastated father arrived home five hours after receiving the text about the person knocking on the door.
It was after that that he made the grisly discovery of his daughter being wrapped in a plastic bag inside of a laundry basket under his bed.
“Unfortunately, they left her under the bed in a plastic bag, they left my poor daughter,” Gonzalez told the outlet.
Police provide an update on the incident
“While investigators were pressing the crime scene, a single key was located inside the apartment and collected as evidence. This key has since been processed by our crime scene investigators and was not found to open any doors at the victim’s residence,” police said.
“Our investigators also confirmed that the young girl’s body was found inside a plastic trash bag that was placed inside a laundry basket and concealed under a bed inside the home," they added.
