A father from the state of Texas made a horrifying discovery on August 12, finding his 11-year-old daughter dead in their home. No parent should ever outlive their own child. The type of pain and misery this man must now live through for the rest of his life cannot possibly be fully understood by those of us who have never experienced it. Say a prayer for this man.
According to the Daily Wire, Carmelo Gonzalez, 32, had left for work that morning, likely as he would have done on any other normal day, not knowing it would be the last time he would see his beautiful young daughter. He later received a text message from the girl, Maria, stating there was a stranger knocking at their door, Fox 26 stated in their report.
“I told her, ‘Don’t open the door because I am arriving at work,’ and she responded, ‘I am in my bed,’” Gonzalez went on to say to the outlet, saying that his daughter was a “good, quiet girl,” who had recently turned 11. Not long after receiving the message, Gonzalez asked his relatives who lived in the same apartment building to check on her “because he hadn’t heard from her,” Pasadena Police Chief Josh Bruegger explained during a press conference held on Tuesday, the New York Post said.
“I called and called and called,” Gonzalez stated during comments delivered to KHOU.
Here’s more from DW:
Maria’s aunt and uncle went to the apartment where Gonzalez and his daughter lived alone and found the door was unlocked. When they searched the home, however, they “were unable to locate” Maria after a “cursory check,” Bruegger said. Gonzalez returned home at 3 p.m., five hours after his daughter’s text. He found the young girl’s body inside a laundry basket that had been pushed under his bed.
“They left her under the bed in a plastic bag. They left my poor daughter,” Gonzalez recounted during the interview with Fox 26.
Bruegger announced at the press conference that Maria had been sexually assaulted before she was strangled, and also had blunt force trauma to the head. A medical examiner confirmed the findings. Bruegger also said that law enforcement currently has no suspects for the “violent, violent crime,” and had already cleared some people who volunteered their DNA.
“At this point, the father’s alibi checks out, so he is — at this point, at least — not a suspect,” Bruegger clarified. The apartment did not show signs of forced entry and the police believe the suspect was probably someone who would have known Maria would be alone at the time she was assaulted and murdered.
“It seems awfully suspicious that Dad leaves for work and within 30 minutes you’ve got somebody knocking at the door,” Bruegger remarked. The complex where the Gonzalez family lives has security cameras but it is not clear as of this writing if they were working at the time of the incident due to storms.
“Somebody had to have seen something and that’s what we’re asking for,” Bruegger continued. “Whoever saw something around 10 a.m. at that apartment, we’re asking them to come forward with any information they might have.”
Commenting on the legal status of the family, Bruegger said, “I do not know their legal status,” before adding, that was “the least of our concerns at this point.”
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