A key left nearby the remains of an 11-year-old Texas girl at a Pasadena apartment complex was the “crucial” link that police used to identify an 18-year-old person of interest.
The Pasadena Police Department revealed the new detail on Friday, six days after Maria Gonzalez’s father found her strangled underneath a bed last Saturday.
Chief Josh Bruegger addressed where the investigation stood in light of police identifying Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez as the person wanted for questioning.
According to Bruegger, a key left at the scene that didn’t open to the girl’s unit, where she was left for dead, was located when investigators swept through last Saturday.
Police used that key to try and match it with doors to other units at the Main Village Apartments at 1004 Main Street. While Bruegger didn’t immediately explain how Garcia-Rodriguez was tied to the key, he said it opened to a unit where the person of interest was staying, which is also where two other people resided.
In addition, the image that Pasadena police produced hours before the chief’s Friday afternoon news conference came from body-worn camera footage when investigators interviewed Garcia-Rodriguez shortly after the girl’s body was found. The chief explained they talked with neighbors and witnesses as part of their investigation.
Bruegger went on to explain that his investigators learned their person of interest had been living at the apartment complex for three to four weeks when the murder took place. Garcia-Rodriguez, who is from Guatemala, was staying with people who were known to other people he knew.
Garcia-Rodriguez was last seen at the apartment complex at about 4 p.m. the Monday after Maria’s murder, and since then, his whereabouts have not been known, Bruegger said.
“He’s been picked up and taken to several places, so someone knows where he’s at,” Bruegger theorized.
Police couldn’t say whether the Garcia-Rodriguez and the victim knew each other, but the chief added they lived in close proximity. As it stands Friday, investigators are waiting for DNA results to get back to them regarding the key and whether it matches Garcia-Rodriguez’s DNA, which police obtained.
Police still have no arrests.
Bruegger admitted the case has been a struggle for his department, mainly due to information being unearthed from other sources.
“We want to hold some stuff back for investigative reasons,” he said, explaining the news conference was scheduled to clear things up.
Strikingly, one of those things was elaboration of how Maria was found. Bruegger confirmed the child’s body was stuffed in a trash bag that was placed inside a clothes hamper, which was put under a bed.
Last Saturday, the 11-year-old’s body was found hidden under her bed, a young victim of sex assault. She had been alone in the apartment while her father was at work.
The last communication Carmelo Gonzalez had with his daughter was a text message that someone was knocking on the door. It wasn’t until hours later that discovered her body when he got home from work.
According to Pasadena police, all apartment complex employees, including the maintenance staff, have fully cooperated with their investigation and at this point do not appear to be involved.
Maria and her father lived at the Main Village Apartments. Police said they are from Guatemala, which is where Maria’s mother still is, and had been in Houston for just three months.
Before living in Houston, they lived in Austin, Texas, and Florida. Maria was not enrolled at Pasadena ISD, police said.
The young girl was home alone on Saturday after her father, Carmelo Gonzalez, left for work at 9:45 a.m.
Carmelo said he got a concerning text message from Maria minutes after he left. She reportedly told him someone was knocking on the door, and then, she stopped communicating.
A while later, he asked family members to check on her, but they said they could not find her inside the apartment.
Five hours after receiving the text from Maria, Carmelo returned from work and found his daughter’s body hidden under a bed.
Maria’s cause of death was ruled as asphyxiation due to strangulation and blunt force head and neck trauma, according to the medical examiner. Additional investigation determined that she had also been sexually assaulted.
Investigators said there did not appear to be any forced entry to the apartment.
Carmelo said he doesn’t understand how someone could do something this awful. He said he isn’t going to rest until he figures out exactly what happened.
“It’s just unfortunate that this happened, but I know somebody knows something,” neighbor Shannon Arteche said.
Arteche lives nearby and, like many, was horrified to hear what happened.
“An innocent girl’s life was taken for nothing,” Arteche said.
Detectives with Pasadena PD say, at this point, the father’s whereabouts during the crime have been verified, and he is not considered a suspect.
Anyone with information on this case is asked to contact Crime Stoppers. Crime Stoppers may pay up to $5,000 for information leading to the charging and/or arrest of the suspect(s)in this case. Information may be reported by calling 713-222-TIPS (8477), submitted online at www.crime-stoppers.org. Only tips and calls directly to Crime Stoppers are anonymous and eligible for a cash reward.
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