LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Investigators are again asking the public for tips to help find seven-year-old Karla Rodriguez, nearly 25 years after she disappeared.
“It’s time to come forward now because the family is still waiting to know what happened to her,” said investigator Todd Tumbleson.
Rodriguez vanished after visiting a friend’s house back in 1999. The girl has never been found and no one was ever arrested in connection with her disappearance. That’s why investigator Todd Tumbleson is speaking out now, hoping to generate new leads on Rodriguez.
In 2016, Tumbleson was allowed to look at Metro Police files on the Karla Rodriguez case, while part of the FBI’s Crimes Against Children’s Squad. He still will not call the case a “cold” case.
“No. Because people are actively doing things on it. My understanding of a cold case is that it sits on a shelf because all the leads have been exhausted. I’m not sure that all the leads have been here, so they continue to be investigated,” he said.
The FBI has released a podcast revisiting what happened, which also includes commentary from Tumbleson. The FBI has also posted photos of how Karla might look today, along with a $5,000 reward for information that leads to her and contact information for people with tips.
Karla and her parents moved here from Mexico and authorities have interviewed people back there. Back in the valley, investigators did look at some possible suspects, including two brothers who lived near the family’s home in the Strat area. Authorities became suspicious when two bloodhounds traced Karla’s scent to the brothers’ apartment.
“The brothers allowed them to come into the apartment. The dogs hit on the bathroom area. One of the dogs actually jumped into the bathtub with its front paws and grabbed the sponge in its mouth, which I think is very compelling for a scent dog. They also smelled that the bathroom had recently been disinfected. That was unusual given the filth of the rest of the apartment,” said Tumbleson.
He says human blood was found at the scene.
“They didn’t have enough to develop a DNA profile,” he said.
Tumbleson says investigators also looked at California convicted child killer Curtis Dean Anderson, who they placed in the area where Karla disappeared at the time. Anderson was connected to several victims of other crimes. While Tumbleson looked at the case file for any clues, he would not get any information from possible suspects.
“All the major suspects were dead,” said Tumbleson.
After Anderson’s death, Tumbleson says authorities recovered some maps from his jail cell that contained ‘X’s in the Nevada desert. Investigators used ground-penetrating radar to search those spots.
“We did find a body, just not the one we were looking for,” said Tumbleson.
While many questions remain about Karla’s disappearance, Tumbleson is pretty sure someone knows something about what happened to Karla and hopes that information solves the long-standing mystery.
“So, if she is alive, that’s great. We would like to at least know that so the family can see her and reunite with her again. So, it’s time to bring that information forward,” he said.
The FBI podcast on Karla Rodriquez can be found here.
Anyone with information on the case can call or email any of the following contacts:
- (702) 828-3111, or (800) 492-6565 (LVMPD)
- Make sure to ask for the Homicide section or the cold case group
- (702) 385-5555, or www.crimestoppersofnv.com
- (702) 385-1281 (Las Vegas FBI)
- (800) CALL-FBI, or tips.fbi.gov
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