A vigil was held Friday night filled with Guatemalan traditions, in honor of 11-year-old Maria Gonzalez. Her father, Carmelo Gonzalez said it is hard to express how he feels after his daughter’s murder at the Main Village Apartments. Police said he found her body wrapped in plastic and inside of a laundry basket that was placed under the bed. Investigators said she was strangled and sexually assaulted while he was at work Saturday afternoon.
18-year-old Juan Carlos-Garcia Rodriquez is now named a person of interest. Investigators said he was a neighbor to Maria Gonzalez and her family, but it is unclear if they knew each other. Detectives spoke with Garcia-Rodriguez and swabbed him for DNA, the day of Maria’s murder
investigators said no one has seen Garcia-Rodriguez since Monday at around 4 p.m. Investigators said he is from Guatemala and is in the U.S. illegally. They said he had been living in Pasadena for the past three to four weeks. They believe he has been picked up and taken places by people he knows. He is not charged with a crime, but police believe he is dangerous.
“My heart has been very heavy. I can’t even picture what they’re going through. I don’t even want to imagine,” said community member Lupita Hernandez.
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