Father Finds 11-Year-Old Daughter Dead Under Bed, Asking Community for Help Returning Body to Guatemala
A father from Pasadena, Texas lived every parent’s worst nightmare last week. Carmelo Gonzalez, originally from Guatemala, found his 11-year-old daughter Maria strangled to death when he returned home from work. Investigations determined she was also sexually assaulted.
Now, authorities and the girl’s loved ones are demanding answers.
As per ABC13, Pasadena police say Gonzalez left for work on Saturday at 10 a.m. While at work, he communicated with his daughter Maria, 11, over the phone.
As Gonzalez explained to Univision, “Me and my daughter lived alone. Just us two. We always were together on Sundays, happy at all times.”
“She never, ever said anything, that anything was happening.”
On Saturday, upon realizing Maria was no longer answering the phone, Gonzalez contacted loved ones to check on her. When they couldn’t find her, he rushed home — and found the most tragic scene imaginable.
Maria’s last messages to her father said: “Someone was knocking on the door”
According to Univision, Maria Gonzalez immigrated from Guatemala to California with her father. The rest of her family still lives in her home country.
As per the outlet, they lived in an apartment complex with several other Guatemalan immigrants.
On Saturday morning, Gonzalez went to work and left Maria home alone, but still kept in communication with her. However, as messages obtained by Univision show, Maria eventually sent her father two terrifying voice messages.
“Someone was knocking on the door,” she said. “I don’t know, I can’t see, I’m in my room. They were knocking.”
According to KHOU 11, Gonzalez messaged his daughter back, and told her not to open the door. She agreed to not open it, and stay in her room. However, she stopped replying his messages.
At that point, the father remembers, “I called and called and called.” Gonzalez then contacted Maria’s aunt and uncle to check on her, but they did not find her in the home.
Pasadena Sergeant Raúl Granados confirmed, “During [Gonzalez’s] break, he communicated with family members because he couldn’t get in contact with Maria, so they could investigate if everything was okay at the apartment.”
“The family members didn’t find her,” he explained. “The father immediately left work and directed himself to the apartment.”
Tragically, it was too late. As per KHOU 11’s report, Gonzalez found Maria’s body wrapped in a trash bag and placed inside a laundry basket underneath her bed.
Gonzalez and his brother confirmed this fact to Telemundo, with Maria’s uncle explaining, “I felt something different when I opened the door. I was like, “What is happening?'”
The uncle also recalled Gonzalez saying, “I thought [Maria] was washing clothes,” because he couldn’t find their laundry basket.
“They put her in the basket. They put her in a bag there under the bed.”
Today, the grieving father asks, “What was the [murderer’s] objective to hurt me like this? Especially to a little girl?”
Now, police are searching for suspects while the family hopes to bring Maria’s body to Guatemala
Once Gonzalez found his daughter’s body, he called 911. Paramedics arrived, where they pronounced her dead.
Later, investigations found that Maria died from asphyxiation due to strangulation and blunt force head and neck trauma. Authorities also found that she was sexually assaulted. However, as per police, they found no forced entry into the home.
Gonzalez is not currently a suspect in this case.
Pasadena Police Chief Josh Bruegger explained in a press conference this week, “At this point, the father’s alibi checks out, so he is, at this point, not considered a suspect in this investigation.”
Police have compiled DNA samples from people living nearby, and are in the process of checking onsite cameras. Still, they currently have no suspects.n
“Whoever saw something just after 10 a.m. on Saturday at that particular apartment,” Bruegger pleaded. “We’re asking them to come forward with the information they might have.”
One of Gonzalez’s neighbors told Fox 26, “This little girl, she was such an angel and hopefully you get caught whoever did this to her, hopefully you do.”
Meanwhile, her family hopes to transport Maria’s body back to Guatemala where her mother and sister live. As per Univision, Maria always wished to go back to Guatemala with them.
Maria’s mother told Telemundo, “We are waiting for her, and asking God for people with good hearts to help us, and bring her body [to Guatemala].”
“The only thing I want is to bring justice for my daughter.”
Now, it seems like this GoFundMe page was just opened to help the Gonzalez family through their “unimaginable pain.” It will also go towards Maria’s funeral expenses.
“Thousands of families come to the United States to fulfill the American dream,” it reads. “A dream that for Carmelo has turned into a nightmare. If you cannot donate, please pray for this family.”
