A woman has been identified more than three decades after his body was found in New York City, officials said 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 roads in Queens, New York, according to a news release from the office of District Attorney Melinda Katz. Four men, aged between 18 and 20 at the time, were prosecuted and convicted for their role in the murder.
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 journey, the victim was tied up and pushed out of the car. A man got out of the car and hit the victim in the head with a large flashlight, killing the victim, according to the news release. The men then left the scene, but returned two weeks later to attempt to conceal the victim by placing a large wooden table over the body.
Queens District Attorney’s Office
The men were arrested and charged in August and September 1991, the DA’s office said. One pleaded guilty in September 1992 to first-degree manslaughter. He received a sentence of just over eight years to 25 years in prison, and was released in 2009 and discharged in 2016.
Two others pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless endangerment and were sentenced to more than two to seven years in prison. Both were released in 1996 and discharged in April 1998.
The fourth man pleaded guilty to one count 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 released from parole in July 1997.
Despite the investigation, the identity of the victim remained unknown, even after the four men had been released from prison and given probation. The body was badly decomposed when it was found, making identification difficult.
In November 2023, the Queens DA Cold Case Unit and the NYPD contacted a private lab in an attempt to learn more about the victim. It took months, but in April 2024, DNA Labs International “used advanced DNA testing to produce a complete genealogical profile from the skeletal remains,” the office said.
This DNA profile was uploaded to public databases and the results given to Detective Joseph Rodriguez of the NYPD’s Investigative Genealogy Team. He built a family tree and uncovered an investigative lead, which was shared with the DA’s office and the NYPD’s cold case team. Investigators began contacting potential family members of the victim.
Through this process, investigators found the remains to be those of Judy Rodriguez, 30, who had been reported missing by her family shortly after she was last seen at her daughter’s first birthday party on 23 of January 1991. Rodríguez had two other children, and three brothers. Her parents, who raised her children after her disappearance, have died, the DA’s office said.
Queens District Attorney’s Office
“Three decades ago, four men were convicted of the gruesome murder of an unidentified woman. Although justice was served, the family went 33 long years without any answers about their loved one,” said Katz in the press release. “Thanks to our partners at the NYPD and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, we have now provided these crucial details, which I hope will bring some comfort.”
The District Attorney’s Cold Case Unit is currently investigating nearly 50 homicide victims who have not yet been identified, according to the news release. Earlier this year, the office received a $500,000 grant for advanced DNA testing and genealogical research, and the unit has since initiated genealogy research for 14 of those cases.