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The main suspect in the murder of an 11-year-old girl found strangled to death under her bed in Texas is a Guatemalan immigrant who entered the US in January.
Maria Gonzalez was found by her father at their home in Pasadena, Texas, on Saturday, August 12. She had also been sexually assaulted, police said.
Pasadena Police Department on Friday named Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez, 18, as a ‘person of interest’ and the main suspect in the case.
He ‘was residing at the same apartment complex where the victim was found but has since left’, police said. Garcia-Rodriguez is now being hunted by cops.
Garcia-Rodriguez is believed to have entered the US in January. He crossed the border in El Paso, Texas. After he ‘self-surrendered’, it is believed the teenager, who was 17 when he crossed, was then let free.
Maria Gonzalez was found by her father at their home in Pasadena, Texas, on Saturday, August 12. The 11-year-old was found strangled under her bed
Detectives have released a photograph of Garcia-Rodriguez with their appeal and also offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to his arrest or charges.
Sources in the Department of Homeland Security told NewsNation police believe he may have fled to Mexico.
Maria’s father called police at around 3pm on Saturday and said he had found his daughter’s lifeless body under her bed.
Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene.
Police say the girl’s father, Carmelo Gonzalez, 32, had found her after returning home from work. She had been sexually assaulted and killed.
Detectives initially said they had no suspects in the case and urged anyone with information which could catch Maria’s killer to come forward.
In a press conference on Friday – six days after the discovery – they named Garcia-Rodriguez as a ‘person of interest’.
Carmelo Gonzalez said he left for work at around 10am on Saturday and communicated with his daughter over the phone a little later. That is when she told him a stranger was knocking at the door
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Carmelo had left the apartment for work at about 10 a.m. and had been in communication with his daughter over the phone.
Shortly after leaving, Carmelo said he received a message from Maria telling him someone had been knocking at the front door.
On Tuesday, Pasadena Police Chief Josh Bruegger revealed Carmelo then called family members who resided in the same apartment complex to check on his daughter.
Family members were not able to find her, according to authorities. That was until her dad came home and found her body.
Her official cause of death was ruled as asphyxiation due to strangulation and blunt force head and neck trauma.
Additional investigation determined she had also been sexually assaulted.
Law enforcement officials said there was no forced entry into the home, and they do not currently have any suspects.
‘At this point, the father’s alibi checks out, so he is, at this point, not considered a suspect in this investigation,’ Bruegger said.
Pasadena Police Chief Josh Bruegger said the department does not yet have a suspect
Maria and her father had lived at the relatively quiet apartment complex for about three months when the murder occurred
He noted that the father and daughter had been living in the apartment complex for about three months. The girl’s mother lives in Guatemala.
‘Whoever saw something just after 10 a.m. on Saturday at that particular apartment, we’re asking them to come forward with the information they might have,’ said Bruegger.
‘We’re doing our level best to get out and solve this crime,’ Brugger told reporters. ‘As a parent of an almost-10-year-old myself, it certainly is a cause for concern.’
Police have taken DNA samples from some people living in the complex, but they say getting cooperation has been challenging.