MANHUNT

18-Year-Old ID’d as Person of Interest in Rape, Murder of Texas Girl

Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez was living in the same apartment complex where Maria Gonzalez’s body was found but has since disappeared, police said.

Cops have identified an 18-year-old person of interest in the horrifically violent sexual assault and murder of an 11-year-old girl from Texas, according to the Pasadena Police Department. The teen, Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez, was living in the same apartment complex where Maria Gonzalez’s body was found but he has since disappeared, police said. While processing the crime scene, officers collected a key that doesn’t open any doors in Maria’s home as evidence. On the day she died, Maria had texted her father, who was at work, about someone knocking on their door. When he arrived home, he found her body in a trash bag under her bed. Authorities have cleared the dad as a suspect. ABC 13 reported that apartment complex employees, including maintenance staff, have also been cooperative with investigators and do not appear to be involved.