1991 murder victim identified as NYC mom who went missing after daughter's 1st birthday party
A woman has been identified more than three decades after her body was found in New York City, officials said on Monday.
On August 25, 1991, a set of remains bound at the ankles and covered with a board was found in a grassy area at the intersection of two Queens, New York parkways, according to a press release from District Attorney Melinda Katz's office. Four men, aged 18 through 20 at the time, were prosecuted and convicted for their roles in the killing.
An investigation found that four men approached the victim sometime between July and August 1991, according to the news release, and drove the victim to the intersection. During that drive, the victim was tied up and pushed out of the car. One man exited the car and struck the victim on the head with a large flashlight, causing the victim's death, the news release said. The men then left the scene, but returned two weeks later to attempt to conceal the victim by placing a large wooden board over the body.
The men were arrested and charged in August and September 1991, the DA's office said. One pleaded guilty in Sept. 1992 to manslaughter in the first degree. He received a sentence of just over eight years to 25 years in prison, and was released in 2009 and discharged from parole in 2016.
Two others pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment in the first degree and were sentenced to over two years to seven years in prison. Both were released in 1996 and discharged from parole in April 1998.
The fourth man pleaded guilty to a charge of hindering prosecution in 1993 and received a sentence of one and a half to four and a half years in prison. He was released in 1996 and discharged from parole in July 1997.
Despite the investigation, the victim's identity remained unknown, even after all four men had been released from prison and discharged from parole. The body had been severely decomposed by the time it was found, making identification difficult.
In November 2023, the Queens DA's Cold Case Unit and the New York Police Department reached out to a private laboratory to try to learn more about the victim. It took months, but in April 2024, DNA Labs International "used advanced DNA testing to produce a comprehensive genealogical profile from the skeletal remains," the office said.
That DNA profile was uploaded to public databases, and results were given to Detective Joseph Rodriguez of the NYPD's Investigative Genealogy Squad. He built a family tree and discovered an investigative lead, which was shared with the DA's office and the NYPD cold case team. Investigators began reaching out to potential family members of the victim.
Through this process, investigators found that the remains were those of 30-year-old Judy Rodriguez, who had been reported missing by her family shortly after she was last seen at her daughter's first birthday party on Jan. 23, 1991. Rodriguez had two other children, and three siblings. Her parents, who raised her children after her disappearance, have died, the DA's office said.
"Three decades ago, four men were convicted for a gruesome killing of an unidentified woman. Though justice was served, the family went 33 long years without any answers about their loved one," Katz said in the news release. "Thanks to our partners at the NYPD and the Office of Chief Medical Examiner, we have now provided those crucial details, which I hope brings a measure of solace."
The District Attorney's Cold Case Unit is currently investigating nearly 50 homicide victims who have yet to be identified, according to the news release. Earlier this year, the office received a $500,000 grant for advanced DNA testing and genealogical investigations, and since then, the unit has initiated genealogy investigations for 14 of those cases.
