The multi-day search for Juanita Rodriguez of Duncanville came to an end Wednesday after police say they found the woman's body wrapped in plastic and left on the side of the road.
A Dallas police homicide detective spent most of Thursday afternoon and early evening inside a single-story home on Charlotte Street in an area of Duncanville neighbors said is notable for how little happens here.
“This whole street, nothing wrong, it’s normal living,” neighbor Edgar Trejo said.
Trejo said it was not normal to hear gunshots that he described as close by a few days ago.
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He doesn’t know if those shots are why Dallas police arrived on his street Thursday but he knows his neighbor, 54-year-old Juanita Rodriguez, is gone.
“That’s tragic. That’s bad,” Trejo said.
Rodriguez was reported missing to Duncanville officers by her family on Saturday, April 16 after she left her house and had not returned.
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According to the victim's family, it was not uncommon for her to leave her home and not return for days at a time.
However, once Rodriguez did not show up for work on Apr. 18 and 19, she was filed as a missing person by police.
Dallas police found Rodriguez's car abandoned on Navy Avenue in West Dallas on Monday.
On Wednesday, Dallas police said it located a body wrapped in plastic on the side of the street in the 3000 block of South Ledbetter Drive, about 10 minutes from Rodriguez’s home.
Lucia Martinez told NBC 5 she simply was not prepared to learn her older sister had been shot and dumped on the side of a road.
“When I was hoping to get good news, maybe she’s in the hospital or something but when I saw those three detectives, I knew this is not good,” Martinez said.
Dallas Police said the motive and circumstances surrounding the murder are under investigation.
Anyone with any information is asked to call Detective John Valdez at 214-671-3623.
