Migrant arrested for suspected rape and murder of 11-year-old girl, wrapped body in trash bag under her bed after strangulation

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A migrant man accused of the heinous rape and murder of an 11-year-old Texas girl was captured in Louisiana one week after the grisly killing. The suspect allegedly strangled the girl to death, dumped her in a trash bag, and hid the body under her bed at her house in Pasadena, Texas.

Authorities arrested Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez on Saturday in Shreveport, Louisiana. The Pasadena Police Department said the 18-year-old suspect was charged with capital murder for the strangulation death of 11-year-old Maria Gonzalez. He is awaiting extradition back to Texas.

Citing sources, KTRK reported that Garcia-Rodriguez "made a full confession."

Garcia-Rodriguez – a Guatemalan national – reportedly crossed the U.S. southern border illegally in January. He allegedly surrendered to U.S. Customs and Border Protection in El Paso, Texas. However, he was released to immigration sponsors in the Baton Rouge area of Louisiana. Pasadena Police Chief Josh Bruegger said attempts to contact the sponsors had been unsuccessful.

Garcia-Rodriguez allegedly lived in the same apartment complex as Gonzalez and her family in Pasadena.

Before her death on Aug. 12, Maria reportedly informed her father via text that someone was knocking on the door of their apartment around 10 a.m. – approximately 15 minutes after he left for work. Carmelo Gonzalez said he instructed his daughter not to open the door, and she agreed. The father said he never heard from his daughter again.

After the daughter stopped responding to his messages, the father asked his brother and sister-in-law – who live in the same apartment complex – to check on Maria. They reportedly found the front door unlocked and things were out of place in the apartment, but they did not find Maria.

The father returned to the home around 3 p.m. that day after work.

KTRK reported, "Police said Carmelo found her body wrapped in a trash bag inside a clothes hamper underneath her own bed. She had been strangled, beaten, and sexually assaulted."

Pasadena Police Chief Josh Bruegger said the suspect left his apartment key at the crime scene.

"It took investigators a few days to find out the key didn't belong to Maria's home and in fact, opened another apartment – the one Garcia-Rodriguez was staying in, according to KHOU. However, Garcia-Rodriguez had allegedly already bolted out of town before the key discovery.

Two days after the gruesome child murder, Garcia-Rodriguez allegedly told his roommate he was leaving town for a job.

According to police, the roommate asked for the apartment key, but Garcia-Rodriguez said he was going to hold on to it.

He allegedly told his roommate, "It's not going to be long. I'm coming back. It's fine."

After the suspect was captured in Louisiana, the Gonzalez family issued a statement that read:

We want to say thank you to the Pasadena Police Department and to Louisiana police and any officials that participated in bringing this cold-blooded murderer into custody. This arrest has brought the family and community some peace. We are extremely thankful that he cannot cause this type of pain to anybody again. I ask for those who are in charge to give us justice. May he be burdened with the full weight of the law, for what he has done to my daughter.

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18-year-old suspect arrested after confessing to Texas 11-year-old's strangulation, sources say www.youtube.com

5-year-old Harmony Montgomery went missing in 2019, officials now believe she was murdered. Choked-up police chief pleads for public's help in bringing little girl's killer to justice.



Harmony Montgomery went missing in 2019. Now, law enforcement officials in New Hampshire believe the 5-year-old was murdered. On Thursday, police pleaded with the public to help find the little girl's killer.

Authorities suspect Montgomery, at age 5, went missing sometime between Nov. 28 and Dec. 10, 2019. However, the little girl was not formally reported missing until December 2021.

"All of these efforts have led us to conclude that Harmony Montgomery was murdered in Manchester in early December of 2019,” New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said during a press conference on Thursday. "At this point, while Harmony's remains have not yet been located, we do have multiple sources of investigative information, including just recently confirmed biological evidence, that have led us to this difficult and tragic conclusion."

"We understand that this is truly devastating news for Harmony’s family, friends, and loved ones," Formella continued. "And our hearts go out to them. This is also devastating news for the City of Manchester, for our state, and all who have followed this story. Our work now turns to getting justice for Harmony and all those who loved her."

Distraught Manchester Police Chief Allen Aldenberg expressed that he was "beyond saddened" that the investigation had gone from a missing person case to a suspected homicide.

"As I stated from the beginning of the investigation and throughout, every effort has been made to bring Harmony back home to her family," Aldenberg said. "Our commitment to bring Harmony home has not wavered nor will it. Bringing Harmony home continues to be the number one priority of the Manchester Police Department."

"I myself continue to share the same concerns and still have many remaining questions," Aldenberg added. "However, the homicide of this little girl rests with the person or persons who committed this horrific act. The Manchester Police Department will do everything within the limits of the law to ensure that the responsible person or persons for the murder of Harmony are brought to justice."

"Do it for this little girl. … The time is now," the choked-up police chief said. "Time to step up and do the right thing. Make the call to that tip line or contact the Manchester Police Department any way you see fit. Harmony is a sweet and innocent child who deserves to be brought home to her family and friends."

Full Press Conference: 5-year-old Harmony Montgomery murdered in December 2019, police say www.youtube.com

Harmony's mother, Crystal Sorey, lost custody of her daughter, but was the one to inform law enforcement that her daughter had gone missing.

At the time of her disappearance, the 5-year-old was living with her father, Adam Montgomery, and stepmother, Kayla Montgomery. Harmony only lived with the married couple for approximately eight months. The couple are now estranged.

Law & Order reported, "In previous statements to law enforcement, Kayla Montgomery allegedly said she last saw Harmony Montgomery while getting ready for a work shift on a morning in the fall of 2019. In early June of this year, the issue of time reared its head again. The stepmother was charged with perjury for allegedly lying to grand jurors about the location of her job and some aspect of the timeline she provided."

In January, Kayla Montgomery was arrested and charged with welfare fraud for collecting food stamps in Harmony's name.

Also in January, Adam Montgomery was arrested and charged with felony second-degree assault for a 2019 incident involving Harmony. Montgomery allegedly struck his daughter in the face, giving her a black eye.

The Boston Globe reported, "Harmony’s father, Adam Montgomery, a transient in New Hampshire with his own history of addiction, wanted custody. But he had a lengthy criminal record that included convictions for an armed attack on two women and for shooting a man in the head during a drug deal just six months before Harmony’s birth."

"In June, police and the FBI searched a home in Manchester where Harmony's father and estranged wife previously lived," WBZ-TV reported. "Investigators were seen bringing a refrigerator in and out of the home."

Neither of the adults have been charged with Harmony Montgomery's disappearance.

Police are begging the public to provide any information on the disappearance or murder of Harmony Montgomery. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Manchester Police tip line at 603-203-6060.

There is a $150,000 reward for tips that lead to the discovery of Harmony or an arrest of the little girl's killer.

NH officials say Harmony Montgomery was murdered www.youtube.com

Colorado father convicted in killing his 13-year-old son who found his dad's sordid and embarrassing diaper photos



A Colorado father was convicted of second-degree murder and child abuse, which the jury said resulted in the death of his 13-year-old son, who disappeared on Nov. 19, 2012. After years of delays, two mistrials, and more than four weeks of trial arguments, a La Plata County jury reached its verdict that Mark Redwine, 59, was guilty of killing his son Dylan Redwine, who had found embarrassing photos of his father.

"This has been an extremely difficult case for everybody involved," Judge Jeffrey Wilson said before the verdict was read. "It's been difficult for the parties, for the attorneys, for their staff. It's been difficult for the families, the entire community."

Redwine, with his hands clasped, did not show any reaction when the verdict was read, which elicited a gasp from people in the courtroom.

The moment the guilty verdict was delivered in the Mark Redwine trial. @KRDONC13 https://t.co/DJaZ0kZO4v

— Spencer Soicher KRDO (@spencersoicher) 1626470990.0

In 2012, Dylan was ordered by the courts to make a Thanksgiving visit to his father's home in Durango, Colorado. Prosecutors presented a case that during that visit, Dyland and his older brother Cory found sordid photos on a laptop in the home of their father wearing women's lingerie and eating feces. Cory testified that Dylan discovered the photos before he went missing. Cory also testified to taking photos of the disturbing images from their father's laptop, and those were shown in court. Prosecutors claimed that the embarrassing photos launched Redwine into a fit of rage, which ultimately resulted in the death of his son.

Redwine, who didn't testify at the trial, told investigators he left Dylan alone at home to run errands, and his son was gone when he returned.

When Dylan's mother, Elaine Hall, found out about her son's disappearance, she was immediately suspicious of the story given by her ex-husband Mark Redwine.

"He wouldn't just leave," Hall wrote in a text to her ex-husband two hours after Dylan was reported missing. "He would have called me. I am so suspect of you right now. How could he just disappear?"

The case gained nationwide publicity in 2013 when Mark Redwine and Elaine Hall appeared on the "Dr. Phil" show.

The Disappearance of Dylan Redwine Clip 1 www.youtube.com

Defense attorneys argued that the lewd photos have no connection to Dylan Redwine's death, and argued instead that the boy ran away and may have been killed by a wild animal, such as a bear or a mountain lion.

Dylan Redwine's partial remains were found in 2013 off an ATV trail less than 10 miles from Mark's home. A witness claimed that he saw Mark Redwine "hurtling down Middle Mountain Road one morning in April of 2013, days before the area was to be searched for the first time (once the snow cleared) since Dylan's disappearance in November of 2012."

Two years later, the boy's skull was discovered about 1.5 miles from where the rest of his remains were found, according to the Daily Beast.

Dylan's skull had two marks on it, which public defender John Moran suggested were tooth marks from an animal. Forensic anthropologist Diane France testified that Dylan suffered a fracture above his left eye, and said the injuries were likely caused by a knife or sharp tool at or near the time of death, Fox News reported.

Fred Johnson, special deputy district attorney, told jurors that a cadaver-sniffing dog alerted them to the smell of human remains in the back of Redwine's truck and on his clothing. He said investigators found traces of Dylan's blood in Redwine's living room.

"Dylan Redwine's blood was found in multiple locations of Mark Redwine's living room, including on the couch, the floor in front of the couch, the corner of the coffee table, on the floor beneath a rug, and a love seat," the indictment stated. "DNA testing showed that Dylan Redwine was the source of the blood on the love seat, and could not be eliminated as a contributor to the mixture found in the blood found on the couch, floor in front of the couch, the corner of the coffee table, and the blood found beneath the rug."

Redwine was arrested in Bellingham, Washington, following a grand jury indictment in 2017.

After being convicted, Redwine will next appear at his sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for October.