Eridania Rodriguez, 46, Missing Since 7/7/09, New York City, NY [BODY FOUND]

[Faith]

Woman vanishes from NYC office tower
By Associated Press
Thursday, July 9, 2009 -

http://www.tribecatrib.com/images/stories/2009/july/rodriguezeridania.jpg


NEW YORK - Police are searching for a woman who vanished from a Manhattan office tower midway through her shift on the evening cleaning crew, and hasn’t been heard from since. Eridania Rodriguez, 46, disappeared from her job in the financial district Tuesday night.

She punched in for her shift at 2 Rector Street, worked a few hours in the building and was last seen on security cameras around 7 p.m., said a lawyer for her family, Daniel Ferreira.

The building’s cameras never recorded her leaving the skyscraper, he said. She didn’t meet up with co-workers at the end of her shift, as usual, for her regular subway ride home to Manhattan’s Washington Heights section. Her purse and street clothes were still in her locker.

The woman’s family is distraught and fears the worst, Ferreira said.

"She had been complaining about a guy at the building who made her kind of nervous," he said. "And she worked on floors that had been empty."

Rodriguez is the sister of Victor Martinez, a top-ranked professional bodybuilder.

Police searched the building Wednesday, but found no trace of the missing woman.

The tower that is the setting for the mystery lies just a few hundred feet from the massive World Trade Center reconstruction site. Its tenants include the studio of ground zero architect Daniel Libeskind.

Built in 1909, the skyscraper has more than 400,000 square feet of interior space and rises 26 stories.

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/national/northeast/view/20090709woman_vanishes_from_nyc_office_tower/srvc=home&position=recent

[Faith]

Woman Reported Missing from Lower Manhattan Office Tower
By Matt Dunning
UPDATED Jul. 09

New York City police are still looking for a Washington Heights woman they say mysteriously disappeared from her job in Lower Manhattan Tuesday evening.

Police said Eridania Rodriguez was last seen around 7 p.m., July 7, on the eighth floor of 2 Rector Street, where she works as a custodian. Police said cameras in the lobby of the building show Rodriguez, 46, arriving to work shortly after 5 p.m., but do not show her leaving the building at any time afterward.

As of 11 a.m., Thursday Rodriguez had yet to be found. A police source said detectives had no indication that Rodriguez had been harmed or was in danger, but had not completed their investigation.

Police spent most of Wednesday morning searching the 26-story office building for signs of Rodriguez. Hundreds of employees were barred from entering their offices until early afternoon.

Some of Rodriguez’s possessions were found in her locker, a police source said.

By 1 p.m., teams of police were expanding their search from the Financial District to include the South Street Seaport area, Battery Park and Battery Park City.

Until recently, the eighth floor of 2 Rector Street was occupied by the City Department of Transportation's Division of Bridges. DOT signage remains

Police said Rodriguez’s family, who last saw her when she left her home in Parkville, Brooklyn, tried several times to contact her before calling the police around 1:14 a.m.

It was not immediately known whether Rodriguez was employed by Stellar Management, managers of the building, or a private company on the eighth floor. Adam Roman, a vice president at Stellar Management, which owns the building, could not be reached for comment.

Police had initially indicated that Rodriguez lived in Brooklyn, but later determined her address to be in Washington Heights, Manhattan.

http://www.tribecatrib.com/news/2009/july/276_woman-reported-missing-from-lower-manhattan-office-tower.html

[CynthiaMackMOM]

So scary. :(

D

[Faith]

Updated 6:01 PM
Police Still Search For Suspect In Missing Woman Case

Sources say police are still searching for a suspect in the disappearance of a cleaning lady who was last seen in Manhattan on Tuesday.

Eridania Rodriguez was last seen on surveillance video at about 7p.m. Tuesday night in the middle of her shift as an office cleaner at 2 Rector Street, seen above.

Her purse and street clothes were found in her locker.

Police searched the building, but found no trace of Rodriguez. Sources say authorities are back at the site, conducting a second search.

Earlier today, police questioned a person of interest in connection to the case, but determined the person was no longer a suspect.

Rodriguez is the sister of Victor Martinez, a top-ranked professional bodybuilder.

http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/102005/police-still-search-for-suspect-in-missing-woman-case/Default.aspx


Cops Questioning Man In Case Of Woman Who Vanished From Workplace
Police are searching for a Washington Heights mother after she disappeared from her job Lower Manhattan.

By PIERRE BONNY wpix.com

2:26 PM EDT, July 9, 2009

NEW YORK (WPIX) - Police are now questioning a person of interest in connection with the disappearance of a missing Washington Heights mother -- who vanished from her job in the financial district midday during her shift on the evening cleaning crew, PIX News has learned. Authorities are now treating the case as a homicide.

Eridania Rodriguez, 46, disappeared from her job at 2 Rector Street Tuesday night. She punched in for her shift, worked a few hours in the building and was last seen on surveillance cameras around 7 p.m., said a lawyer for her family, Daniel Ferreira.

Police have not released further details on the case and did not clarify on what caused them to believe she may have been murdered.

The building's cameras never recorded her leaving the skyscraper, Ferreira said. She didn't meet up with co-workers at the end of her shift, as usual, for her regular subway ride home to Washington Heights.

Sources told PIX News that her mop, hairclip, and pocket book were found scattered on the 8th floor of the building and her civilian clothes and purse were still in her locker.

Police searched the building Wednesday, but found no trace of Rodriguez.

Eridania Rodriguez's daughter Denise is convinced that her mother was abducted and made a desperate plea for her mother's return.

"Let my mom go please. She has three kids and 3 grandchildren," a tearful Denise said outside her home. "Please whoever has my mom, please let her go. I know she is alive. The only way I would know she passed away is if I see her with my own eyes."

The woman's family is distraught and fears the worst, Ferreira said.

"She had been complaining about a guy at the building who made her kind of nervous,'' he said."And she worked on floors that had been empty.''

Rodriguez is the sister of Victor Martinez, a top-ranked professional bodybuilder.

The building where Rodriguez disappeared lies just a few hundred feet from the massive World Trade Center reconstruction site. Its tenants include the studio of ground zero architect Daniel Libeskind. The building was once home to the Department of Transportation and Bear Stearns.

Built in 1909, the skyscraper has more than 400,000 square feet of interior space and rises 26 stories.

The New York City Police Department is asking anyone with information in regards to this case to call the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS.

The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers Website at www.crimestoppers.com or texting their tips to 274637(CRIMES) then enter TIP577.

http://www.wpix.com/news/wpix-ny-missing-washington-heights-mother,0,1350335.story

[Faith]

Woman vanishes at skyscraper near ground zero

By DAVID B. CARUSO – 12 minutes ago

NEW YORK (AP) — A Manhattan skyscraper in one of the most security-conscious parts of the city has become the scene of an unlikely missing persons mystery.

Police are trying to figure out what happened to a cleaning woman who vanished midway through her shift Tuesday evening at an office tower a few hundred feet from the World Trade Center reconstruction site.

Eridania Rodriguez, 46, punched in for work at 2 Rector Street around 5 p.m. She donned her blue uniform, chatted with other after-hours employees and was last seen on security cameras around 7 p.m., according to police and her family.

Then, she disappeared.

The building's cameras never recorded her leaving the skyscraper. She didn't meet up with co-workers for her regular subway ride home to Manhattan's Washington Heights section. Her purse and street clothes remained in her locker. Her cleaning cart was found abandoned on the eighth floor, a space recently vacated by the city's transportation department.

The woman's family is distraught and fears the worst, said a lawyer for the family, Daniel Ferreira.

"She had been complaining about a guy at the building who made her kind of nervous," he said. "And she worked on floors that had been empty."

He said Rodriguez is married with several children. One of her brothers is Victor Martinez, a top-ranked professional bodybuilder.

Police quietly sealed off the building Wednesday morning to hunt for clues. They found no trace of the missing woman. Workers were finally allowed back in shortly before noon, but the search continued Thursday.

Investigators combed the 26-story tower, including a sub-basement flooded with two feet of water. They also questioned a Department of Transportation employee, but said he was not a suspect.

"It's a mind blower. How do you go missing here?" said Rob Ross, an executive assistant in the studio of noted architect Daniel Libeskind, who moved to the tower after getting the commission to redesign ground zero.

Security in the building is typical for the financial district. Employees need identification cards to enter. Security cameras cover every entrance and many public areas. Every visitor is photographed before they are allowed up from the lobby.

Officials at the company that operates the building, Stellar Management, declined to comment. Rodriguez was assigned to clean floors five through eight of the tower, and police are checking video footage of those floors in particular.

Built in 1909, the skyscraper has more than 400,000 square feet of interior space. Besides Studio Daniel Libeskind, the building's tenants include the architectural firm NBBJ and several law firms.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hC39JFNANHgNIjLi-MsUExv33eiwD99B7VQG0

[Faith]

Updated 9:49 PM
Police Still Search For Suspect In Missing Woman Case

Sources say police are still searching for a suspect in the disappearance of a cleaning lady who was last seen in Manhattan on Tuesday.

Eridania Rodriguez was last seen on surveillance video at about 7p.m. Tuesday night in the middle of her shift as an office cleaner at 2 Rector Street, seen above.

Her purse and street clothes were found in her locker.

Police searched the building, but found no trace of Rodriguez. Sources say authorities are back at the site, conducting a second search.

On Thursday, police questioned a person of interest in connection to the case, but determined the person was no longer a suspect.

Rodriguez is the sister of Victor Martinez, a top-ranked professional bodybuilder.

http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/102005/police-question--person-of-interest--in-missing-woman-case/Default.aspx

[annalyzer]

Very puzzling case.

[Faith]

Foul Play Is Suspected After Woman Disappears
July 9, 2009

A mop and a hair clip. That was all Eridania Rodriguez’s co-workers found when she failed to join them for a break from cleaning a Lower Manhattan building late Tuesday.

On Thursday afternoon, a lawyer and family friend said there was still no trace of Ms. Rodriguez, 46. The police said they suspected foul play and were trying to piece together how the Washington Heights woman vanished from the office tower at 2 Rector Street. They have not identified a suspect.

“What makes us suspect foul play is she’d not normally leave her clothes and belongings at the work site, so there is evidence that leads us to be concerned about her safety,” said the Police Department’s chief spokesman, Paul J. Browne.

Ms. Rodriguez was last seen in a surveillance video between 7 and 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, said Daniel Ferreira, the family friend and a lawyer for the missing woman’s brother Victor Martinez. A law enforcement source said the video shows her in her uniform — a blue jumpsuit — pushing her cleaning cart into an elevator.

Also around 7:30 p.m., Ms. Rodriguez spoke to her daughter by telephone, said Mr. Ferreira, who had been informed of events by Mr. Martinez. About 9 p.m., co-workers went to look for Ms. Rodriguez when she failed to join them for dinner, Mr. Ferreira said. They searched the floors where she usually cleaned. When they could not find her, they called the police, he said.

Ms. Rodriguez’s clothes and purse were found in a changing room on the 10th floor, and her cart was found on the eighth floor, the police said.

Ms. Rodriguez, of 107 Ellwood Street, had worked for about a year in the building, a 26-floor office building near ground zero, Mr. Ferreira said.

She had told relatives that she found it unnerving to work in the virtually empty building during her shift, which ran from about 4:30 p.m. to 11 p.m., he said.

Ms. Rodriguez also told relatives that she had been afraid of a former worker in the building who had been fired about a month ago but kept returning, Mr. Ferreira said.

A moving company was working on one of her floors on Tuesday night, he said. Mr. Browne confirmed that the city’s Department of Transportation was moving out of the building that night.

On Thursday, investigators were still searching the building, which has several subbasements, the lowest of which is flooded with two feet of water, Mr. Browne said.

The building is managed by Stellar Management Company, where Ms. Rodriguez was a temporary employee. Adam Roman, an employee who was asked to speak on behalf of the company, declined to take questions. Outside Ms. Rodriguez’s home in Upper Manhattan, her younger brother Cesar Martinez expressed regret about helping her get a job at 2 Rector Street, where he has worked as a security guard for about a year and a half.

“I feel guilty, because I was the one who got her the interview,” Mr. Martinez said. “We have hope that she will appear.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/10/nyregion/10missing.html?_r=1

[Faith]

Cops fear foul play in hunt for missing building cleaner, mother of three

Friday, July 10th 2009, 4:00 AM

A Manhattan family was waiting by the phone Thursday for news of their missing mother who police fear may be the victim of foul play.

Cops questioned a man who had paid unwanted attention to Eridania Rodriguez, 46, but cleared him as a potential suspect, police said.

Rodriguez was last seen Tuesday evening at her cleaning job at 2 Rector St. in lower Manhattan.

She was supposed to meet a fellow employee for a dinner break around 9 p.m. but never showed.

Her abandoned cleaning cart was found the eighth floor and her belongings were where she left them in an employee changing room on the 10th floor, police said.

So far security video has not shown Rodriguez leaving the building, and police continue to search its floors for any clue to her disappearance.

"We're concerned about her well being," said Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne. "Foul play may have been involved."

"I'm trying to stay positive, but it's been two days and I'm getting scared," said son Ronnie Figueroa, 25.

Daughter Denise Figueroa, 26, said she last spoke to her mother at about 5:15 p.m. Tuesday.

"She said, 'Oh, Denise, I'm here at work, call me later, I'm busy.' I called her at 9 and the phone was shut off. I thought maybe the battery died," the frightened daughter said.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/07/10/2009-07-10_cops_fear_foul_play_in_hunt_for_bldg_cleaner_mo m.html

[nicky]

They need to bring the dogs in now!!! Especially if she was concerned about this man at work. He could have hidden her anywhere in that building! Praying for a good outcome!

[Amusedtdth]

They need to bring the dogs in now!!! Especially if she was concerned about this man at work. He could have hidden her anywhere in that building! Praying for a good outcome!

nicky, I almost jumped the gun here and posted the same thing.......bring in the hounds! NOW for Gods sake! A similar situation about a year back where a young woman disappeared in a nightclub...one of the bouncers killed her and stashed her body within the building somewhere....or something to that effect.

[Faith]

NYPD: Missing high-rise worker might be in trash

1 hour ago

NEW YORK (AP) — Police believe that a cleaning woman who vanished from a Manhattan high-rise may be dead and that her body could turn up in a Pennsylvania landfill.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Friday that investigators "fear the worst" in the disappearance of Eridania (ehr-ee-DAH'-nee-uh) Rodriguez.

The 46-year-old Rodriguez was last seen Tuesday evening in an office tower in lower Manhattan.

Police suspect the woman was killed and dumped in the trash. They expanded their search Friday to a Pennsylvania landfill where the building's garbage is taken.


http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hC39JFNANHgNIjLi-MsUExv33eiwD99BMMS00

[Amusedtdth]

For what purpose would you kill the cleaning lady?

[Faith]

NYC Police Search Lacka Landfill for Body

By Peggy Lee

10:19 PM EDT, July 10, 2009

The search for a missing woman brought investigators from New York City to Lackawanna County.

A New York City police bus brought out dozens of New York City police officers to the Keystone Landfill in Dunmore.

Officers searched the landfill hoping to find answers in the case of a missing woman, Eridania Rodriguez.

Rodriguez was last seen Tuesday night at a financial district building in Manhattan where she worked for a cleaning service

Now her family fears the worst. "People keep telling me, think positive, everything could come out good," said Yaniris Figueroa, Rodriguez's daughter.

After her family reported Rodriguez missing, officers searched the building where she worked, some seen carrying in sledge hammers.

According to police, the search came up empty.

New York City police say they're searching the landfill because waste from the building where Rodriguez worked is brought down here to Dunmore.

Detectives say there is no evidence that Rodriguez was killed, but they cannot rule out any possibilities of what may have happened to her.

Rodriguez's family said she was afraid of a man who also worked nights at the building. They want to know if he had something to do with Rodriguez's disappearance.

"He always used to look at her weird and she was nervous. So while she was cleaning, he used to stare at her," said Figueroa.

Police questioned that man, along with several other co-workers.

As for the landfill in Dunmore, no decision has been made if New York City officers will be returning.

http://www.wnep.com/wnep-lacka-police-search-landfill-for-body,0,592530.story

[Faith]

>snip<

Among those questioned about her disappearance are a city Department of Transportation worker who had worked in the same building and appeared to be following her, and a freight elevator operator with an arrest record, police sources said.

The DOT worker is not a suspect, sources said, but detectives are not so sure about the elevator operator, as her family has told them he was smitten with her.

http://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/longisland/ny-nymiss1112959427jul10,0,3465519.story

[Pandabear]

http://news.aol.com/article/eridania-rodriguez-disappearance/564622

Cops Say Missing Woman May Be in Trash
By DAVID B. CARUSO

NEW YORK (July 10) - Police believe that a cleaning woman who vanished from a Manhattan high-rise may be dead, that her body was dumped in the trash and that she could turn up in a Pennsylvania landfill.
"We have reason to fear the worst," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.

A search of the high-security building has failed to turn up any witnesses or clear evidence of a crime. But police say they suspect foul play because Eridania Rodriguez left behind her purse and other personal belongings and had not contacted loved ones since her disappearance midway through her shift on Tuesday evening.

Police were still searching basement floors of the skyscraper at 2 Rector St. on Friday. Detectives also had been dispatched to Keystone Sanitary Landfill in Dunmore, Pa. — the landfill used by the building's garbage collector — to look for a body.

Rodriguez, 46, was last seen around 7 p.m., when security cameras recorded her pushing a cart into an elevator. There was no footage of her leaving the high-rise near the World Trade Center site, police said.
Security in the building is typical for the financial district: Employees need identification cards to enter. Security cameras cover every entrance and many public areas. Every visitor is photographed before they are allowed up from the lobby.

[LiveLaughLuv]

They need to bring the dogs in now!!! Especially if she was concerned about this man at work. He could have hidden her anywhere in that building! Praying for a good outcome!

I'd also check out that moving company. Maybe they have a couple of boxes that do not belong to them...:g:

I also heard yesterday the authorites were going to check the Pennsylvania landfill...

I hope and pray for Eridania's safe return..:innocent0001:

[Heidi J.]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,531646,00.html

Police have discovered a body hidden inside the Manhattan high-rise where a cleaning woman vanished four days ago.

Police Department spokesman Paul Browne says the corpse was found just before 9 a.m. Saturday, stuffed in an air conditioning duct in a utility room on the 12th floor of the office tower where Eridania Rodriguez vanished Tuesday.

:1187603408.CR.Mothe

[LiveLaughLuv]

Police Department spokesman Paul Browne says the corpse was found just before 9 a.m. Saturday, stuffed in an air conditioning duct in a utility room on the 12th floor of the office tower where Eridania Rodriguez vanished Tuesday.


:1187603408.CR.Mothe


Terrible outcome...this must be Eridania, no one else is missing from that office...

Next, who placed her there??? I sure hope there is some DNA near or around her...whoever did this must be brought to justice...

:1222423:

[annalyzer]

Sad news Heidi but expected. From above link, "Security in the building is typical for the financial district. Employees need identification cards to enter. Security cameras cover every entrance and many public areas. Every visitor is photographed before they are allowed up from the lobby."

I hope they are able to identify her killer real soon.

[Faith]

Oh No. I wonder if it was the guy they questioned? This is very sad.

[Heidi J.]

Sad news Heidi but expected. From above link, "Security in the building is typical for the financial district. Employees need identification cards to enter. Security cameras cover every entrance and many public areas. Every visitor is photographed before they are allowed up from the lobby."

I hope they are able to identify her killer real soon.

I think they will get him.. So glad the family will have closure.:1187603408.CR.Mothe

[Nut44x4]

Body found at NY skyscraper where woman vanished
July 11, 2009
NEW YORK—A body hidden inside a Manhattan skyscraper where a cleaning woman vanished four days ago was found Saturday morning.

Police spokesman Paul Browne said the corpse was found just before 9 a.m., stuffed in an air conditioning duct in a utility room on the 12th floor of the tower where Eridania Rodriguez vanished Tuesday.

Police had searched the office building from top to bottom every day since Rodriguez disappeared, but hadn't turned up anything. Investigators had been sure, though, that she had not walked out alive.

The skyscraper is in a high-security zone next to ground zero. Cameras cover every door. They recorded Rodriguez entering the building and working part of her shift Tuesday, but didn't show her leaving.

Authorities didn't immediately confirm the identity of the corpse, but it was presumed to be Rodriguez, who was 46 and lived in Manhattan. She was married with several children.

Police have no suspect in her disappearance.

Before the discovery, dozens of police officers with search dogs, including bloodhounds, convened at the Rector Street tower for yet another comprehensive search of the massive building.

The building has 26 stories and more than 400,000 square feet of interior space and plenty of places to hide, including some floors that were empty and a sub-basement partially flooded with water.

Investigators had traveled Friday to a landfill in Pennsylvania where the building's garbage is taken, on the chance that someone had taken her body out with the trash.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2009/07/11/body_found_at_ny_skyscraper_where_woman_vanished/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Latest+news

[Nut44x4]

Body of missing mom Eridania Rodriguez found in air conditioning duct of building where she vanished

Updated Saturday, July 11th 2009, 12:25 PM
The mystery of a Manhattan mom who disappeared from her office-cleaning job ended with a tragic discovery Saturday: her body in an air conditioning duct, police said.

Eridania Rodriguez's remains were discovered at 8:50 a.m. between the 12th and 13th floors of 2 Rector St. after dozens of cops and sniffer dogs spent a second day searching.

The floor where her body was found is under construction.

A bad smell and missing ceiling tiles made search teams focus on the area, sources said. Shortly after the grisly discovery, police arrived at the family home in Inwood to break the news to Rodriguez's loved ones.

The 46-year-old was last seen alive Tuesday evening.

She was caught on surveillance video around 7 p.m. pushing a cleaning cart into an elevator, sources said.

She spoke with her daughter by telephone around the same time but did not show up for dinner with co-workers at 9 p.m. and was never seen leaving the building.

Her clothes and purse were found in a changing room. Police have questioned a building elevator operator, Joseph Pabon, but no one has been arrested.

Several hours after the discovery, Rodriguez's body was still inside building near Ground Zero while cops waited for crime scene investigators.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/07/11/2009-07-11_body_of_missing_mom_eridania_rodriguez_found_in _airconditioning_duct_of_building.html#ixzz0KyT1MK V4&C

[nanabillie]

Lives are worth nothing to some people. It is sad, but also makes me so angry! They don't stop and think about the children and other family left behind to grieve.
And for what? What could she have done that was worth taking her life?

[Nut44x4]

Cops monitoring Staten Island man questioned in case of missing Manhattan cleaning lady
by Staten Island Advance Saturday July 11, 2009, 2:13 PM
A New Springville man is under police surveillance in connection with the disappearance of a Manhattan cleaning lady.

Joseph Pabon of Galveston Loop was under close watch by cops this afternoon after being questioned following the disappearance of Edriana Rodriguez, 46, of Manhattan. He has not been arrested or charged.

Pabon, 25, is a freight-elevator operator at 2 Rector St., the building where Ms. Rodriguez worked as a cleaning lady. Pabon inexplicably left work Tuesday night and had scratches on his arm, according to the New York Post. He has apparently retained a lawyer, also according to the Post.

Ms. Rodriguez was preparing to clean bathrooms on the fifth floor on Tuesday when she received odd instructions from an unknown man telling her to work on the eighth floor instead.

Coworkers found her mop, cart and hair clip on the eighth floor, but she was nowhere.

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/07/cops_monitoring_staten_island.html

[packy]

This is so sad. I was hoping they would find her and that she would be safe. My condolences to her family.

[annalyzer]

Body of Eridania Rodriguez, missing cleaning woman, found bound in tape and stuffed in air duct

http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/07/12/alg_missing-search.jpg
NYPD Officers join the search for the missing woman Eridania Rodgriguez who was last seen on Tuesday at 2 Rector Street in downtown Manhattan. Photo was taken at 2 Rector Street in Manhattan on Saturday 07-11-09.

http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/07/12/amd_rodriguez-body.jpg
The body of Eridania Rodriguez from the crime scene late Saturday night.

Sunday, July 12th 2009, 12:28 AM

Cops found the decomposing body of a missing Manhattan cleaning woman Saturday - her head wrapped like a mummy in heavy-duty yellow and black construction tape, police sources said.

Eridania Rodriguez's hands and legs had also been bound with tape before she was shoved into an eye-level air-conditioning duct on the 12th floor of 2 Rector St., where she worked, sources said.

Cops made the gruesome find on the fourth day of their desperate search for the mother of three.

They had spent Friday searching for Rodriguez - who was last seen on Tuesday evening at the building - in a Pennsylvania landfill.

Yesterday, an officer on a floor undergoing renovations at the building detected a foul odor and saw missing ceiling tiles.

Dozens of officers and search dogs arrived early yesterday to comb the 26-story building in search of the 46-year-old.

After the grisly discovery, police went to Rodriguez's Inwood home to notify her family.

"I'm devastated," her daughter, Yaniris Figueroa, 17, told the Daily News. "I'm still in a state of shock. I really don't feel well. How could someone have done this to my mom?"

Her brother, Victor Martinez, 35, said this was supposed to have been his sister's last week on the job because she was scared to work in the building.

"She didn't want to work there anymore because of the unsafe working conditions," he said. "She just wanted to leave."

Martinez, a champion bodybuilder from the Dominican Republic, said an employee at the building recently exposed himself to his sister.

The perv was transferred, but she was still spooked.

"She said she was afraid of being there. She said she was afraid of being alone," he said.

Rodriguez was caught on surveillance video around 7 p.m. wearing her uniform blue jumpsuit and pushing a cleaning cart into an elevator inside the building, sources said.

She spoke with her daughter by telephone around the same time, but did not show up for dinner with co-workers at 9 p.m. and was never seen leaving the building.

The woman's clothes and purse were found in her locker and her cleaning cart was abandoned on the eighth floor, causing cops to fear the worst.

Police questioned a building elevator operator - Joseph Pabon - on Thursday, but he was released after he asked for a lawyer.

Pabon, 26, cried when detectives asked him questions about the missing woman, sources said. He had visible scratches on his hands and arms, and couldn't explain why he left the building early Tuesday night, sources said.

Cops were outside Pabon's Staten Island home yesterday and pursued him when he drove away.

Pabon has prior arrests, including an April collar for allegedly punching and choking his girlfriend and smashing her windshield with a bowling ball.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/07/12/2009-07-12_bound_body_of_cleaning_woman_who_vanished_tuesd ay_stuffed_in_air_duct_.html

[LiveLaughLuv]

My heartfelt condolences to Eridania's family and friend..

Rest In Peace :1222423:

[annalyzer]

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee117/debra19561/Sympathy/sympathy-deepest.jpg

[LiveLaughLuv]

Police questioned a building elevator operator - Joseph Pabon - on Thursday, but he was released after he asked for a lawyer.

Pabon, 26, cried when detectives asked him questions about the missing woman, sources said. He had visible scratches on his hands and arms, and couldn't explain why he left the building early Tuesday night, sources said.

Cops were outside Pabon's Staten Island home yesterday and pursued him when he drove away.

Pabon has prior arrests, including an April collar for allegedly punching and choking his girlfriend and smashing her windshield with a bowling ball.

Assuming this is the authories POI...I do hope they tie him to Eridania's murder...he needs to be prosecuted...

[Nut44x4]

Attorney: Staten Island man innocent in death of Manhattan cleaning woman

Sunday July 12, 2009, 2:45 PM
The Staten Island man being eyed by police in connection with the death of a cleaning woman in the Manhattan office building where he operated a freight elevator was questioned for 25 hours without being offered food, water or the chance to use the bathroom, said his attorney, Mario Galucci, today.

Joseph Pabon, 26, who remains holed up in his studio apartment in New Springville with his 6-year-old daughter, his parents and girlfriend, will be exonerated said Galucci, adding a civil suit could follow because of the way police treated the man.

"We deny the allegations completely and we're ready to battle," said Galucci about his client. "He was very tired and worn out and very upset at the way he was treated. He did nothing wrong."

Galucci said police today are sifting through new evidence, potentially biological, discovered at the building at 2 Rector St. -- the 26-story building where both Pabon and the 46-year-old Edriania Rodriguez worked. She had been missing since Tuesday.

Police yesterday found the decomposing body of the Inwood mother of three stuffed in the air-conditioning duct on the 12th floor of the building.

According to reports, her head was wrapped like a mummy in heavy-duty yellow and black construction tape and her hands and legs had been bound with tape.

Rodriguez's family had said she had started to be scared on the job after another worker recently had exposed himself to her. Although he was transferred, she had planned to quit this week.

The native of the Dominican Republic was last heard from Tuesday night, when she called a friend and said she had mysteriously been summonsed to the eighth floor of the building. There, police found her abandoned cleaning cart, as well as her change of clothes and purse still in her locker.

Police say that freight-elevator operator Pabon has keys to the 12th floor, which is currently gutted and under renovation.

He had apparently gone home early that day, claiming not to feel well. Sources have also said he had scratches on his arm.

"Just because he happened to be there doesn't mean he's guilty," said Galucci.

He said he has photos of his client's arms and what have been called scratches, and will make the images available later today. "Scratches? You should see these photos," he said indignantly.

His girlfriend, Lisa Marie Blumenberg, drove Pabon around yesterday in her Pontiac G6 sedan, in an effort to avoid the unmarked police cars and media organizations assigned to follow him.

The 28-year-old Sunnyside woman yelled at reporters when questioned whether she would be standing by her man despite the allegations.

"This is all circumstantial," said Galucci about the case police are trying to build against his client.

Pabon had been questioned by police about leaving work early Tuesday, when the suspected murder is thought to have taken place.

"He was telling his supervisor all morning he didn't feel well," said Galucci. "He didn't just decide all of a sudden to go home."

He said law enforcement may have shifted their sights to the "stalker" who had flashed Ms. Rodriguez earlier this year, before being transferred to another location. "They're looking at him now."

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/07/attorney_staten_island_man_inn.html

[Faith]

NYPD reveal how missing woman's body was found


4:53 PM EDT, July 12, 2009

A pool of blood and the stench of decomposition led police to the body of a missing woman who had disappeared last week from the lower Manhattan skyscraper where she worked, officials said Sunday.

The details emerged as police continued their search for the person who killed Eridania Rodriguez, 46, who worked on the janitorial staff of the building at 2 Rector Street.

Rodriguez had three children and lived in the Inwood section of Manhattan. She emigrated from the Dominican Republic 27 years ago.

The city medical examiner's office ruled Sunday that Rodriguez had been smothered by duct tape that had been wrapped around her head and face. Chief Medical Examiner Ellen Borakove said Rodriguez died from asphyxia due to airway obstruction.

While the body has not been positively identified at Rodriguez', Borakove said she had "no reason to believe it's not her."

As a formality, the grieving family had yet to officially identify the body as that of Rodriguez, NYPD chief spokesman Paul Browne said. Sources said lab technicians are trying to lift prints or hair fibers from the duct tape found on the body in hopes of narrowing the search.

Detectives had searched the building at least twice before Saturday. After searching the Pennsylvania landfill where the building's garbage is hauled, investigators again turned their efforts to the 26-story Rector Street building.

Rodriguez was last caught on camera around 7 p.m. Tuesday going to the eighth floor to clean bathrooms.

"We felt she was still there," Browne said. "We checked the dump as a precaution."

More than 100 officers and detectives stormed the building around 8 a.m. Saturday and, about 50 minutes later, a team found Rodriguez' body in the air conditioning duct on the 12th floor, he said. The floor is undergoing renovation and the duct, which sits about two feet off the floor and measures about three feet tall by about 20 feet wide, sits exposed, Browne said.

Officers spotted a one-foot pool of blood under one of the entrances to the duct, officials said. Browne said the blood appeared to be from Rodriguez' head and had seeped from the duct insulation to the floor.

Through a one-foot-square window in the duct, police saw a body in a hogtied position, Browne said. Her killer had used black tape to tie her hands behind her back, bind her ankles and gag her mouth.

The gold crucifix Rodriguez was wearing was affixed to the duct tape over her mouth, Browne said. He said it was unclear if the cross was placed there intentionally or had inadvertently got caught on the tape.

The duct, which is accessible through 18-inch square doors on the bottom, is large enough for a person to fit inside comfortably.

Rodriguez was still wearing her blue Stellar Management short-sleeve shirt and white uniform pants. Her slip-on shoes were "neatly" placed about four feet from her in the duct, police said.

Police had to cut through one of the metal panels to reach the body, Browne said.

He said detectives have talked to a number of people but have not identified a suspect.

Browne would not comment on police interest in Joseph Pabon, a building elevator operator who was questioned by detectives in the days after Rodriguez went missing. According to police sources, the Staten Island man asked for a lawyer after several hours of questioning, at which point the questioning stopped.

Police interest in Pabon stems from family members who have told police Rodriguez had raised concerns about his interest in her, sources said.


http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/monday/news/ny-nybody1312964594jul12,0,6459137.story

[Faith]

I wonder what caused the pool of blood?

[Faith]

Woman whose body found in NYC building killed

July 12, 2009

NEW YORK - The death of the woman whose body was discovered hidden inside the Manhattan skyscraper where a cleaning woman vanished five days ago has been ruled a homicide.

Medical examiner spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said Sunday the woman died from asphyxia due to airway obstruction by tape applied to her head and face.

The body's identity hasn't officially been released but police spokesman Paul Browne said investigators presumed it was that of 46-year-old Eridania Rodriguez. She was last seen Tuesday night in the 26-story tower.

Browne says a pool of blood on the floor leaking from the ventilation system led police to the corpse Saturday morning.

He said the victim had suffered a head wound, and her hands and feet had been bound.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--skyscraperdisappe0712jul12,0,1466155.story

[Faith]

Missing Woman's Body Found "Hog-tied" and Gagged
Police reveal how body of missing cleaning lady was found

July 12, 2009

MANHATTAN, N.Y. (WPIX) - Police revealed Sunday, new details surrounding the case of a missing cleaning woman who disappeared in the middle of her shift last Tuesday.

The woman's body, suspected to be that of 46-year-old Eridania Rodriguez, was found in an air conditioning vent on the 12th floor of 2 Rector street on Saturday.

"The woman was found on her knees, her hands were tied behind her back with tape," NYPD Deputy Commisioner Paul Browne told Pix News, " Her mouth was also covered with tape which held a gold crucifix."

What was originally a missing person's case has now been ruled a homicide. An elevator operator who worked with Rodriguez, remains a person of interest and has been under police surveillance. The man has been identified as 26-year-old, Joseph Pabon. According to reports, Pabon said he did not kill Rodriguez, when asked by reporters outside of his Staten Island home on Sunday, if he was innocent of the murder.

Police have not identified Pabon as a suspect, despite the fact he has been under surveillance.

Autopsy results on the woman's body are pending. However, medical examiners say Rodriguez died of asphyxia due to airway obstruction by the tape applied to her head and face.

http://www.wpix.com/news/wpix-missing-woman-body,0,4749742.story

[AmyE]

Eridania Rodriguez

http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/07/12/amd_eridania-rodriguez.jpg?SSImageQuality=Full

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/07/12/2009-07-12_bound_body_of_cleaning_woman_who_vanished_tuesd ay_stuffed_in_air_duct_.html

RIP Eridania!!!

[annalyzer]

As Body Is Identified, Vigil Gives Way to Grief

Published: July 12, 2009

As detectives continued the investigation into the killing of a 46-year-old woman whose body was discovered over the weekend at the Lower Manhattan office building where she worked as a cleaner, a stream of friends visited her Washington Heights apartment, where her family had gathered on Sunday to mourn.

The woman, Eridania Rodriguez — Iris to those who knew her well — was described by friends as a devoted mother of two daughters and a son. They said she had grown so nervous about working alone at night that she was losing weight and talking about quitting her job.

“It’s horrible, it’s frightening. What kind of human being did this to her?” said Elaine Ramirez, a friend, outside the family’s apartment in a mostly Dominican neighborhood. “We just want to go to work. Come home and let the day pass by.”

Ms. Rodriguez’s body was found in an air-conditioning duct on the 12th floor of 2 Rector Street on Saturday, four days after she disappeared during a night shift. Her feet, hands and mouth were bound with tape. An autopsy on Sunday identified asphyxia, a result of the tape applied to her head and face, as the cause of death, said a spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office.

“My head is blank,” said Yaniris Figueroa, 17, one of Ms. Rodriguez’s daughters. “I just feel horrible.”

On Sunday the police said a pool of blood underneath the duct system, which was under construction, had led an officer to her body after days of frustrated searches in the building. Inside he found Ms. Rodriguez’s body, clothed in her blue custodial uniform and positioned on her knees, face down, her hands bound behind her back with black and yellow tape, said Paul J. Browne, the chief spokesman for the Police Department. A gold crucifix that Ms. Rodriguez had apparently been wearing on a chain around her neck was affixed to the tape that covered her mouth, though it was not clear whether it had become tangled in the tape or been displayed there purposefully, Mr. Browne said.

There was no immediate explanation for the blood, and it was not clear whether there had been a sexual assault, he said.

No arrests had been made by Sunday evening. While detectives have spoken to several people, Mr. Browne said a suspect had not been identified.

But a lawyer for Joseph Pabon, a man who worked in the building, said that the police had detained his client for over 24 hours — questioning him continuously — and since his release had been staking out his home on Staten Island.

“This was against his constitutional rights,” said the lawyer, Mario F. Gallucci. “We are considering filing a civil rights lawsuit.”

Ms. Rodriguez came to New York with her parents and siblings from the Dominican city of San Francisco de Macorís in the early 1980s, said Milagro Cruz, a friend.

“She was a peaceful person, dedicated to her kids and her house,” said Ms. Cruz, 56, who is also from San Francisco de Macorís. “She was a good person, a good mother.”

Lourdes Fernandez Vasquez, 45, a neighbor of Ms. Rodriguez’s, said that there was something particularly chilling about an attack suffered not on a deserted street but in the familiar confines of the workplace. “All we can do is to ask God to grant that family peace,” she said. “I hope that whoever did this horror will pay for it.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/13/nyregion/13missing.html

[LiveLaughLuv]

Police impound Staten Island man's car in connection with death at New York skyscraper
by Staten Island Advance
Monday July 13, 2009, 4:19 AM

Investigators believe a pair of sneakers may be a clue to solving the murder of a Manhattan cleaning woman found stuffed in the air-conditioning duct of a downtown office building.

Police yesterday swarmed a Pontiac G6 belonging to the girlfriend of 26-year-old Joseph Pabon, a New Springville resident, after the two parked at the Safari Batting Cages on Richmond Avenue in Eltingville. Pabon, who lives on Galveston Loop, has been under NYPD surveillance for at least the past two days.

Investigators seized the car shortly before 9 p.m. last night. Pabon's lawyer, Mario Gallucci, said detectives were looking for a pair of sneakers inside the vehicle.

Gallucci maintains Pabon has nothing to do with the cleaning woman's death. The attorney said he's mulling a civil lawsuit after police questioned his client for 25 hours without offering him food, water or the chance to use the facilities.

"We deny the allegations completely and we're ready to battle," said Gallucci. "He was very tired and worn out and very upset at the way he was treated. He did nothing wrong."

The New Springville man is being eyed by police in connection with the death of Eridania Rodriguez, 46, a mother of three who was discovered stuffed in a 12th-story duct at 2 Rector St. Saturday morning. According to reports, her head was wrapped like a mummy in heavy-duty yellow and black construction tape and her hands and legs had been bound with tape.

Although several police vehicles have been shadowing Pabon's every move for the past two days, the NYPD hasn't officially called him a suspect.

"The New York City Police Department has not identified a suspect in this case. The only person who has is Pabon's attorney," said Paul Browne, the NYPD's deputy commissioner for public information in a statement issued last night.

Ms. Rodriguez, a native of the Dominican Republic, was last heard from Tuesday night, when she called a friend and said she had mysteriously been summoned to the eighth floor of the building.

There, police found her abandoned cleaning cart, as well as her change of clothes and purse still in her locker.

Pabon, who operated the freight elevator of the 26-story building, had apparently gone home early that day, after telling a supervisor he wasn't feeling well. Sources have also said he had scratches on his arm.

Ms. Rodriguez's family said she had grown scared on the job after another employee recently exposed himself to her. Although he was transferred, she had planned to quit this week.

At one point yesterday, Gallucci said police may also be looking at this flasher as a potential suspect.

Gallucci characterized the attention surrounding Pabon as a "media circus" and insisted Pabon had done nothing wrong.

"Just because he happened to be there doesn't mean he's guilty," said Gallucci.

The scratches on Pabon's arms were nothing more than minor scrapes, he said, and aren't proof of anything.

"He's a furniture mover. He got them moving furniture," Gallucci said.

He said he has photos of his client's arms, but as of last night, could not make them available to the media.

Pabon was charged with criminal mischief, attempted assault and resisting arrest after an April 26 incident this year, during which he was accused of smashing his girlfriend's car window with a bowling ball.

Police say the husky, tattooed Pabon attacked the woman at the intersection of Renwick Avenue and Victory Boulevard in Sunnyside before smashing her car.

When officers arrived to arrest him, he flailed wildly in an attempt to free himself.

Pabon, who had no previous convictions, entered a guilty plea to end that case at arraignment and was sentenced to a conditional discharge that will be sealed one year from the date of the plea, according to William J. Smith, a spokesman for District Attorney Daniel Donovan.


That girlfriend, Lisa Marie Blumenberg, drove him around Saturday in her Pontiac G6 sedan, in an effort to avoid unmarked police cars and media organizations assigned to follow him.

The 28-year-old Sunnyside woman yelled at reporters when questioned whether she would be standing by her man
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/07/police_impound_staten_island_m.html

[Pandabear]

I can only imagine what Eridania went through prior to her death. I pray they find the person responsible and Ms. Rodriguez gets the justice she deserves.

RIP :1222423:

[MrzEzell]

I'm very sorry to hear and my prayers are with the family, the husband and children. I just didn't think it would be good news when considering the builiding has cameras everywhere but I never would have thought air duct. This is just crazy what people will do. A mother, daughter, wife, life is now lost in such a discusting and terriable way. I pray they find the killer. I pray justice is served.

[annalyzer]

Murdered New York Woman Was Found With Crucifix Taped on Lips

Monday, July 13, 2009

The cleaning woman whose body was found in a New York City building had been hogtied and her mouth taped shut — left with her gold crucifix dangling over it — before being tossed down an air duct, authorities said Sunday.

Detectives continued to closely watch a hotheaded, freight-elevator operator. They used a search warrant to gather potential evidence from his girlfriend's car last night — including some of his work clothes and a pair of sneakers they'll try to match to the crime scene, sources said.

The hands and ankles of victim Eridania "Iris" Rodriguez were bound by black and yellow tape, which also was used to cover her nose and mouth, cops said.

Her head had been bashed in, and wound in the tape over her mouth was her neck chain, whose gold crucifix dangled outside of the tape, over her mouth, sources said.

The body, discovered Saturday, was fully clothed except for her shoes, which had been placed neatly to her right, and a sock was found underneath her, said NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne.

She was wearing a uniform identifying her as an employee of Stellar Management, the 46-year-old Rodriguez's employer.

Joseph Pabon, the elevator operator who had worked with the mother of three at 2 Rector St., was followed by four police cars yesterday.

He had been working overtime the night she disappeared because the Department of Transportation was moving some offices out of the building, law-enforcement sources said.

But he suddenly told co-workers that he had to leave early. He later told cops that he needed to go to Richmond University Hospital on Staten Island, where he lives, to be treated for scratches on his arms, but they could find no record of him having been there.

The woman's body was discovered in a shaft on the 12th floor after an investigator detected an odor of decay and spotted blood seeping from the ceiling.

It was likely she was already dead when tossed down the shaft, sources said. She died from suffocation, said the Medical Examiner's Office, adding "there is no reason not to believe" the body is that of Rodriguez.

Asked by reporters outside his home if he was in nocent, Pabon, 26, replied, "Yeah, of course I am."

He and his girlfriend, Lisa Blumenberg, spent much of the day at the Safari Amusement Park batting cage in Staten Island.

Pabon was arrested in April for allegedly punching and choking Blumenberg in a drunken rage before throwing a bowling ball through her car windows.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,532021,00.html

[annalyzer]

Still No Arrest in Lower Manhattan Killing; Victim's Identity Confirmed

By Matt Dunning
UPDATED Jul. 13

Eridania Rodriguez, 46, disappeared from her job at 2 Rector Street on July 7. Saturday morning, police discovered her body in a ventilation duct.
As expected, the city Medical Examiner's office confirmed Monday afternoon that the body recovered in a Lower Manhattan office tower is that of a Washington Heights woman reported missing last week.

Police found 46-year-old Eridania Rodriguez, around 8:50 a.m., July 11, in a ventilation duct on the 12th floor of 2 Rector Street, four floors from where Rodriguez was last seen alive on July 7. The discovery marked the end of an intense four days of search for the missing mother of three.

Two days after finding the body, police said they still have yet to identify a suspect in the brutal homicide. It has been reported that police questioned the building's freight elevator operator who left the building early Tuesday night and had scratches on his arms and hands.

http://www.tribecatrib.com/news/2009/july/280_still-no-arrest-in-lower-manhattan-killing-victims-identity-confirmed.html

[LiveLaughLuv]

Perhaps, after the ME does his autopsy, if Eridania scratched this man, there is evidence under her nails..

Hoping they get this POS...very soon...

[Faith]

Murdered cleaning woman may have been sexually assaulted; tests results due Tuesday

Monday, July 13th 2009, 11:36 PM

Tests are expected back Tuesday to determine if a mother of three was sexually assaulted before she was murdered and her body shoved into a Manhattan office air shaft, police sources said.

The body of Eridania Rodriguez, 46, was discovered Saturday. She had been hogtied, her face wrapped in tape and shoved into an air conditioning duct at the Rector St. office building where she worked as a cleaner.

A gold crucifix had been stuck in the tape across her mouth, and she was asphyxiated.

"I just can't talk about this. It hurts too much," said Denise Figueroa, one of the victim's daughters.

As police reviewed forensic evidence, an attorney for Joseph Pabon, a suspect questioned extensively by cops and let go, said his client mourned for the victim.

"At this point, we would like to tell the family of the deceased that we are sorry for their loss. We completely deny all of these allegations," said attorney Mario Gallucci.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/07/13/2009-07-13_murdered_cleaning_woman_may_have_been_sexually_ assaulted_tests_results_due_tuesd.html

[Faith]

Still No Arrest in Lower Manhattan Killing; Victim's Identity Confirmed
By Matt Dunning
UPDATED Jul. 14

As expected, the city Medical Examiner's office confirmed Monday afternoon that the body recovered in a Lower Manhattan office tower is that of a Washington Heights woman reported missing last week.



Police found 46-year-old Eridania Rodriguez, around 8:50 a.m., July 11, in a ventilation duct on the 12th floor of 2 Rector Street, four floors from where Rodriguez was last seen alive on July 7. The discovery marked the end of an intense four days of search for the missing mother of three.

Tuesday morning, three days after finding the body, police said they still have yet to identify a suspect in the brutal homicide. It has been reported that police questioned and are still surveilling the building's freight elevator operator, who left the building early in the evening on July 7 and had scratches on his arms and hands.



Rodriguez was found with her hands and feet bound with tape, and "a small, gold crucifix was in the center of the tape over her mouth," according to Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne. Her death was ruled a homicide Sunday afternoon. A spokeswoman for the Medical Examiner's office said the cause of death was suffocation due to tape applied to the head and face.



The discovery was made following a massive search of the 26-story building by a phalanx of police officers and search dogs. Hope of finding Rodriguez alive had been steadily fading since she was first reported missing shortly after 1 a.m. on July 7.

Police say some of Rodriguez’s possessions were left in her locker in the office building, where the mother of three worked as a custodian and her cleaning cart was found on the eighth floor. Cameras in the lobby of the building show Rodriguez arriving to work shortly after 5 p.m.

I can’t even put it into words,” said Rodriguez’ son, Ronnie Figueroa, 24, on his mother’s disappearance the day before the body was found.



Rodriguez also has two daughters, Denise, 26, and Yaniris, 17. Even before it was believed police had recovered her body, Ronnie spoke of his mother in the past tense.

“It’s devastating,” he said. “She had a big heart, and a kind heart. She was kind to everybody. Everybody should have been kind to her.”



Last Wednesday morning, hundreds of employees were initially barred from entering their offices until the afternoon. Since Rodriguez’ disappearance was first reported, security at the building has been significantly tightened, according to some workers.



“I see the guy at the desk every day and he knows who I am, and before I usually didn’t have to show him my ID,” said Chris Hamburger, a 22-year-old employee at the Morris, Duffy, Alonso & Faley law firm on the 22nd floor. “Now, I have to show him my ID every time I come into the building. It’s definitely gotten tighter since [Rodriguez] disappeared.”

Rodriguez began working for the building’s management company, Stellar Management, about 18 months ago, according to her son. Adam Roman, a vice president at Stellar Management, could not be reached for comment.

“I’m very uncomfortable,” said a manager in one of the large firms in the building. “A lot of my female colleagues work all hours, until 2, 3 or 4 in the morning and I’m not that keen on having them stay that late.”



Saturday afternoon, before Rodriguez's body had been removed fro 2 Rector Street, Isabelle Grayson and her 3-year-old daughter, also named Isabelle. placed a lily close to the entrance of the building,



"She was lost for so many days," said Grayson, who lives a block away on Washington Street. "I'm just so sad for this woman and her family,"

http://www.tribecatrib.com/news/2009/july/280_no-arrest-in-rector-st-killing-victims-identity-confirmed.html

[annalyzer]

There must be some dna or other type of evidence to catch the monster. It's not like every tom dick or harry was allowed in that building. :mad:

[Faith]

Joseph Pabon Arrested: Suspect in Missing Cleaning Woman, Eridania Rodriguez

Joseph Pabon has been arrested as a suspect in the murder of missing cleaning woman, Eridania Rodriguez. Read about it below and see photos and a video.

Eridania Rodriguez went missing last week from her job as a cleaning woman in a Manhattan skyscraper. A pool of blood at the scene and a foul odor of a decomposing body helped police to locate her body, shoved in an air conditioning duct on the 12th floor of the building in which she worked. Her body was found four days after she disappeared.

Her head had been wrapped in construction tape. Her hands and legs had also been bound with the tape. An autopsy revealed that she had died of asphyxiation due to the tape covering her mouth and nose. A crucifix had been taped over her mouth.

Joseph Pabon, a 26-year-old elevator operator in the same building, had been questioned shortly after Ms. Rodriguez disappeared. She was last seen on surveillance cameras entering the elevator. Also, Rodriguez’ family had told detectives that she had been concerned about Pabon’s interest in her. He cried when questions and had scratch marks on his arms. He was released when he asked for an attorney. However, he did voluntary submit to DNA testing.

Material found under Rodriguez’s fingernails matched Pabon’s DNA. Police stopped him as he left his Staten Island home on Friday evening, July 16, 2009. Joseph Pabon was arrested and is a suspect in the missing cleaning woman murder. His lawyer says he is innocent of the charges against him.

The 46-year-old mother of three children had emigrated from the Dominican Republic over 27 years ago. Her children say they are devastated. Her daughter, Yaniris Figueroa, 17-years-old, wonders how someone could have done this to her mother. Unfortunately, we’ll never know what really motivates these kinds of killers.

http://law.rightpundits.com/?p=631

[Faith]

Accused Killer Weeps For Detectives After Cleaning Lady's Death

http://www.wpix.com/media/photo/2009-07/48144258.jpg
Joseph Pabon

NEW YORK, N.Y. (WPIX) - Joseph Pabon, a freight elevator operator, is being held without bail for the murder of 46-year-old cleaning woman, Eridania Rodriguez who went missing in the middle of her shift last Tuesday. The suspect broke down in tears when detectives asked him to think about the victim's family and their need to find Rodriguez's body and bury it, sources say.

Pabon, 25, pleaded not guilty through his defense attorney in Manhattan Criminal Court to two second-degree murder charges Saturday. Witnesses say he repeatedly wiped away tears as he waited for court proceedings to begin.

Rodriguez, who immigrated from the Dominican Republic years ago, was found earlier this week in a ventilation duct in the lower Manhattan building where she worked. Her body was found in the duct with her ankles, arms and mouth bound with tape. Medical examiners say the cause of death was asphyxiation, possibly from tape covering her mouth.

Pabon's DNA was found under the victim's fingernail, police say. In addition, both the victim's and Pabon's DNA was found on a workman's glove recovered at the crime scene.

"It's 100% solid. There is no way he can weasel out from under this evidence," a police source said.

Rodriguez's disappearance from her workplace at 2 Rector Street in the heart of the Financial District sparked several massive searches inside the building. After reviewing surveillance video, detectives were convinced that the mother of three never left the building, despite their repeatedly unsuccessful attempts in relocating her. Finally, police detected an odor on the 12th floor where Rodriguez was found stuffed in an air conditioning vent.

Sources tell PIX News the decomposition of the body had been slowed because the corpse was stuffed in an air conditioning vent. At the end of Friday, police asked the building to be entirely shut down which led to the discovery.

Pabon first came on police radar after uncharacteristically leaving work early on the night of the woman's disappearance. Pabon also called in sick the next day. Upon being interviewed by detectives, cuts, scratches and bruises were seen around his neck and forearms.

According to police, Pabon had prior arrests that include a violent domestic incident involving his girlfriend.

Pabon's dramatic arrest came Friday night while he was driving to his home on Staten Island. With guns drawn, cops grabbed him out of his sedan as he waited at a red light.

Pabon is ordered held at Rikers Island. His next court appearance is scheduled July 23.

http://www.wpix.com/news/wpix-pabon-arraigned,0,801334.story

[Faith]

Gal pal of accused cleaning lady killer Joseph Pabon stands by her man

Saturday, July 18th 2009, 4:43 PM

http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/07/19/alg_joseph_pabon.jpg
Joseph Pabon is led from the 1st Pct in handcuffs after being charged with the murder of Eridania Rodriguez.

The girlfriend of the elevator operator charged with killing a cleaning woman stood by her man Saturday - appearing at his Manhattan arraignment.

Lisa Marie Blumenberg sat stone-faced as Joseph Pabon, 26, was ordered held without bail in the murder of Eridania Rodriguez. Rodriguez, 46, was found stuffed in an air duct inside the Rector St. office building where she and Pabon worked.

http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/07/19/amd_pabon_girlfriend.jpg
Lisa Marie Blumenberg, girlfriend of Joseph Pabon, appeared at his arraignment and defended his innocence.


She was asphyxiated.

Cops said DNA evidence solidly ties him to the slaying - but Blumenberg is not convinced.

"She's standing by his side, confident he did not do this crime," defense lawyer Mario Gallucci said after Pabon was hit with a second-degree murder rap in Manhattan Criminal Court.

Blumenberg appears to be the loyal type.

Pabon has a previous arrest for choking her and smashing her car windshield with a bowling ball in a fit of rage.

The burly, surly building worker was busted Friday by a team of undercover cops who had tailed him around the clock since Rodriguez's body was discovered July 11.

Pabon was in the back seat of a pal's Honda Accord when the cops swooped in, guns drawn, and cuffed him on Clove Road in Staten Island.

The officers moved in after Pabon's DNA was found under Rodriguez's fingernail and on a work glove at the crime scene that also contained Rodriguez's DNA.

Interviewed by cops after Rodriguez disappeared, Pabon couldn't explain scratches on his hands, arms and neck - or why he left work early the night his colleague vanished.

Gallucci shrugged that off, saying the scratch marks on his body came from "yard work" and that he ditched work because he wasn't feeling well.

"It was not something he just made up," Gallucci said. "He had already told his supervisor he felt sick."

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/07/18/2009-07-18_gal_pal_of_accused_cleaning_lady_kill.html

[Faith]

Jul 18, 2009 2:19 pm US/Eastern
Murder Rap: How They Got Joseph Pabon

I remember the background schooling I got on sex crimes investigations from Linda Fairstein, then the Manhattan DA's bureau chief for such cases. There was this phrase: "bag the nails." "Always find out if they bagged the nails," she said. "It's what the best detectives do right away." This was, of course, many years ago. Now, they teach it at the Academy, and it's the first thing all detectives, not just the best ones, do. Or, they better do.

"They literally tie small plastic bags around the nails to preserve the evidence," she said. "So that later, they can scrape under the nails, for bits of skin, hair --- DNA that can be tested." Remember, when we had this conversation, DNA was still a relatively new tool for detectives. But the courts already seemed to agree that it was a 99% indicator. "Because almost always --- a woman fights back."

Eridania Rodriguez was reported missing almost immediately after she did not show up with the other women who had finished their shift cleaning floors Tuesday night, July 7th, at 2 Rector Street. A shift that started about 7PM. When you stand on that narrow block, and walk east a bit, away from the West Side Highway, to the corner; and look to the left slightly, uptown…you can see the spires of Trinity Church. So you know another block up is where the World Trade Center was.

That's where that building is, where Eridania worked. And now you know why her family would keep insisting later, "But there are so many cameras down there!" The cameras in the building showed Eridania starting her shift. Picked her up later as she started to clean a bathroom on the 8th Floor. But then…nothing.

Wednesday night, July 8th, Eridania's oldest child, Denise Figueroa, 26, was on television and talking to newspaper reporters, pleading for information about her missing mom. Because the family lives in the Washington Heights – Inwood area of Upper Manhattan, their Missing Persons report was filed in their local precinct, the 34th. But from the start, since the disappearance had all the signs that point to a bad ending ----- a murder --- detectives from the First Precinct, which covers the Lower Manhattan area 2 Rector Street is in, as well as detectives from Manhattan South, quietly picked up the case. As if it was already a homicide investigation. And even as TV reporters were going live at 10 and 11 O'Clock outside the 34th Precinct in Upper Manhattan…the real action was way downtown. Inside the First Precinct.

Because detectives had already picked up Joseph Pabon that Wednesday. And they were grilling him hard. Inside the First.

By coincidence, I had called a detective I knew about another case. But he answered, "I suppose you're calling about that missing woman." Uh…yeah. Sometimes you bite the bear… "We have a guy. We feel good about him." When a cop tells you that, it means they're pretty sure they have the right guy. And that they're now at the part where they have to find the legal stuff that makes it stick. "But I have to ask you not to go with this yet. We're still trying to break him down. But his story doesn't hold water. We've already caught him in a bunch of lies. And he's got all these marks --- bruises, scratches, cuts. Like if a woman was fighting him off. And he doesn't really have a good explanation for that."

"You have a name?"

"You going to sit on this?"

"Yeah."

"Joseph Pabon."

"He know her?"

"Works in the same building. Elevator operator." The freight elevator.

"What kind of guy is he?"

"A piece of work. Acts like a wannabe tough guy from Staten Island. Bodybuilder type, but you gotta wonder about steroids. Has a definite anger problem. Got picked up in April after a fight with his girlfriend. Threatened her and smashed her windshield with a bowling ball."

He and I talked again early Thursday morning, July 9th. "We're still at it. There was another guy we talked to, because the family seemed to describe another person with access to the building that made the mother nervous, but we let him go. His story holds up. We're pretty sure Pabon is the guy that was giving the mother the creeps. He was supposed to work overtime that night and left early. When we asked him about it, he said he had stomach pains and went to the hospital. We checked with the hospital: he never went there.

Then we found out that supposedly with stomach pains, he had a big steak dinner with his father. We asked for a DNA sample and he gave it to us. We've taken pictures of the bruises. I'm willing to bet these thumb-sized impressions on the inside of his elbows will match her thumbs. When we find the body. The body is the key. The circumstantial evidence is very good. But we need the body. As a precaution, we're tracking the dumpster outside that building to the landfill where it's taken. In Pennsylvania. Some of the guys are wondering if he found a way to slip her in a bag or a box past the cameras and into the dumpster. But most of us think she's still somewhere in that building. There's construction going on in there.

"There's something else. We still on background?"

"Yeah."

"We decided to press a little. Told him, Look: forget about yourself for a minute. Think of her family. Tell us where she is. Give us something to give them. So they can bury this woman. And not have to see the decomposed remains of what was their mother.

"The guy broke down and cried."

With that information, thinking an arrest was imminent, I staked out the First Precinct with a Ch. 2 crew. We were prepared to go live at 5 O'Clock. Earlier that day, I had already interviewed Eridania's younger daughter, Yaniris Figueroa, 16. And met "the boys" (young men, really) Ronnie and Lemuel. They had given us pictures of their mother. Since they were born here, English was their first language. "All these reporters keep thinking we don't know English," Yaniris said. In fact, as we were leaving their apartment, Ch. 41, Spanish TV, showed up, and the kids were nervous. They didn't think their Spanish was good enough. "My mother came here from Santo Domingo when she was like 12 or 13," Ronnie said. Later I found out she went to George Washington High School.

Shortly after 3PM, I got a call from another detective at Police Headquarters who I had been talking to about the case. "We had to let him go." What?! "We had him for over 24 hours. He got lawyered up." Now there's an expression: "lawyered up." "We didn't have hard evidence. He's gone."

We put a story on the air at 5 anyhow, but it wasn't live, since we didn't have a suspect. And, something else: at no time did the police officially call Pabon "a person of interest" (another meaningful expression). That's usually a signal that someone is about to become, officially, "a suspect". That is, hit with charges. But even when you have veteran detectives giving you inside information, women and men you've come to trust over the years, a reporter has to be careful. Exhbit A: Richard Jewell. The FBI --- the FBI! --- pretty much told reporters this was the man responsible for the bombing at the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996. Reporters raced to be the first with the name.

And it wasn't him.

Soon after I began in television, I got a tip from a high-ranking police official about a murder at Metropolitan Hospital in Spanish Harlem. A male orderly had beaten and suffocated a female patient to death. Tying her down at four points and putting a pillow over her face. On the strength of who the source was, my bosses at the time decided to lead the broadcast with it. But, it was still just one source. The news director, John Parsons, pulled me back into his office by the arm, as I was going out to stand, live, in front of Metropolitan Hospital. We had worked together at a rock radio station, WQIV, where I was a DJ, and he was news director. "You know, in this business, your reputation is everything. You screw up once, and that's it. Your integrity will always be questioned." We gave each other a long look. I was petrified. "Okay," he said shoving me back out the door, "give it to me! I want it on my air tonight!"

The next day, Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau confirmed the story, and announced that a grand jury had been empaneled. I cannot tell you how relieved I was.

The day after my report at the First Precinct, I saw that first one newspaper, and then a second, published Joseph Pabon's name. I got the distinct sense that we all had similar sources; but in a weird game of chicken, when certain news outlets saw that Ch. 2 knew a lot, the newspapers started playing "Can you top this?" It took a lot to hold certain information back. Suppose Pabon had never been arrested? Suppose it was somebody else? Like Richard Jewell, he and his lawyer were looking at one of the all-time humongous lawsuits. As certain as the detectives were, it was wrong to go with his name. Until, by that Saturday, that amazing cat-and-mouse game out in the open began at Pabon's residences on Staten Island, where five carloads of detectives, staked out in front or in back of either his home or his father's, started tailing him as openly as any surveillance any of us have ever witnessed.

It bordered at times on the absurd.

Once, outside his father's house, I asked a cop about it, and he said, "We're waiting on test results. But in the meantime if he even goes through a stop sign or spits on the sidewalk, we're picking him up."

When you hear that, it means somebody ticked somebody off. And they're busting chops. Big time.

After the funeral last Wednesday, I got a call from Lou Young, who covered it that night. I had told him about the bruises and scratches detectives saw on Pabon's arms. The thumb marks on the inside of his elbows. "Before they brought the body out," Lou said, "a carload of detectives pulled up. They closed the funeral parlor. And opened the casket."

I had told Lou that in my culture, among Latinos, open casket funerals are quite common. But when I had been there earlier in the day, people who had been inside were commenting on the closed casket. Because when Eridania's body had finally been found stuffed in that air duct, she had already been dead for more than three days. Her face had been wrapped in duct tape, which is what had asphyxiated her. She was decomposing. Remember: the detectives grilling Pabon had asked him, Give us something to give the family. Tell us where the body is. Before she decomposes.

"Somebody inside the funeral parlor," Lou was telling me, "said one of the detectives asked another detective, 'Did you get the fingers?' The guy said yeah. Then the first guy said, 'The thumbs. Did you get the thumbs?' "

I figured, as Linda Fairstein had told me years earlier, they had already bagged the nails and scraped them for DNA. What they were doing in the funeral parlor, I figured, was getting an impression of the fingers. Particularly the thumbs. To match them through a computer and put on a screen. To see if her thumb sizes matched those bruises on the inside of Pabon's elbows.

Less than 48 hours after getting the final piece of the evidence puzzle from Eridania, before her body was flown back home for burial in the Dominican Republic, detectives swarmed over a car with Joseph Pabon inside. Guns drawn.

The dead woman had pointed to her killer.

"Freeze! You're under arrest!"

http://wcbstv.com/topstories/skyscraper.murder.arrest.2.1091387.html

[Faith]

NY man pleads not guilty in skyscraper slaying, lawyer says evidence thin

NEW YORK - A handyman at a skyscraper near the World Trade Center pleaded not guilty Saturday to charges he murdered a cleaning woman and hid her body in the tower's ventilation system.

Prosecutors say Joseph Pabon, 25, snatched the Dominican-born woman on July 7 as she worked on an empty floor in the 26-story office building. They say he smothered her with tape, hid her body in an air conditioning shaft, and then told his manager he was ill and went home.

The victim, Eridania Rodriguez, 46, was reported missing within hours of her disappearance, but her corpse was hidden so well it took police searchers four days to find her.

A Manhattan judge ordered Pabon held without bail at his arraignment Saturday.

The police said that when they questioned Pabon about his missing co-worker, he had scratches on his torso, head and neck and bruising on his arms. Bits of flesh containing his DNA were later found beneath the victim's fingernails, police said.

Pabon's lawyer, Mario Gallucci, said his client is innocent.

"He got the scratches either doing yard work or moving," he said.

Gallucci called the test results from the DNA samples inconclusive.

Pabon was arrested Friday evening after the DNA tests were complete. Police had been trailing him for a week and news photographers were on hand to record his arrest at gunpoint.

Pabon has previously been arrested on charges that he choked his girlfriend and threw a bowling ball through her car window in a fit of rage.

http://www.cftktv.com/news/56/962316

[Faith]

Elevator Operator Denied Bail in Cleaning Woman’s Killing

Published: July 18, 2009

An elevator operator was ordered held without bail on Saturday in the killing of a cleaning woman whose body was found bound and gagged in a air-conditioning duct in the Lower Manhattan office building where they both worked.

The elevator operator, Joseph Pabon, 25, was arrested on Friday near his home on Staten Island after the police said tests matched the DNA in skin found under the victim’s fingernails to that of Mr. Pabon, who had scratch marks on his body when he was first questioned.

The body of the victim, Eridania Rodriguez, 46, was found after a detective spotted blood leaking from a ventilation shaft at 2 Rector Street, the building where she and Mr. Pabon worked, on July 11, four days after she was reported missing. It was unclear whether she had been sexually assaulted.

Detectives said Mr. Pabon attacked Ms. Rodriguez on the night of July 7 as she made her rounds on the 12th floor, and bound her feet, hands, nose and mouth with tape. A gold crucifix was also taped to her mouth. An autopsy showed she had been asphyxiated by the tape.

According to a criminal complaint filed against Mr. Pabon, investigators found a mixture of DNA from a man and a woman under the fingernails of Ms. Rodriguez’s right hand. The man’s DNA was matched to Mr. Pabon.

The complaint also said that Mr. Pabon changed his story about seeing Ms. Rodriguez the night she was killed. He initially told detectives that he had run into Ms. Rodriguez on the building’s fifth floor when he picked up her garbage, and that the two had said hello. But he later said he had never seen her that night, and that he had left work feeling sick about 9 p.m.

Christine Keenan, an assistant district attorney, said at an arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court on Saturday that Mr. Pabon was being charged with two counts of second-degree murder. He could face 25 years to life in prison if convicted.

Acting Justice Eileen A. Rakower of State Supreme Court in Manhattan ordered Mr. Pabon held without bail.

His lawyer, Mario F. Gallucci, said Mr. Pabon would plead not guilty. Mr. Gallucci told reporters that he might ask for bail after examining the evidence.

Mr. Gallucci said Mr. Pabon, who had been tailed for days by detectives before his arrest, maintained his innocence. “He completely denies the allegation,” he said. “He has not wavered one ounce.”

“He got the scratches either through yard work or moving,” Mr. Gallucci said. “If you’ve seen the scratches, they’re laughable.”

He added that Mr. Pabon knew Ms. Rodriguez, but only enough to say, “Hello, goodbye.”

The criminal complaint quoted the building engineer at 2 Rector Street as identifying Mr. Pabon as a handyman at the office building.

Ms. Rodriguez, a mother of three children who lived in Washington Heights, came to New York with her family from the Dominican Republic in the early 1980s. She had worked at 2 Rector Street, a 26-story tower near ground zero, for some time, but friends and relatives said she had become nervous about working the late shift because the building was so desolate after business hours.

Ms. Rodriguez’s body was flown to the Dominican Republic to be buried near family.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/nyregion/19arraign.html

[annalyzer]

From above link, "I'm willing to bet these thumb-sized impressions on the inside of his elbows will match her thumbs."

That poor woman. What a horrible way to die. :sad0119:

I'm glad they've made an arrest.

[LiveLaughLuv]

I figured, as Linda Fairstein had told me years earlier, they had already bagged the nails and scraped them for DNA. What they were doing in the funeral parlor, I figured, was getting an impression of the fingers. Particularly the thumbs. To match them through a computer and put on a screen. To see if her thumb sizes matched those bruises on the inside of Pabon's elbows.

Less than 48 hours after getting the final piece of the evidence puzzle from Eridania, before her body was flown back home for burial in the Dominican Republic, detectives swarmed over a car with Joseph Pabon inside. Guns drawn.

The dead woman had pointed to her killer.

"Freeze! You're under arrest!"

The authorites did an outstanding investigation. DNA left under Eridania's fingernails links Pabon directly to her murder...will be very hard to dispute.

Rest Peacefully now, Eridania. You spoke and this POS has been charged...

:1222423:

[Faith]

Elevator man Joseph Pabon arraigned in cleaner's killing

BY Melissa Grace
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Tuesday, August 25th 2009, 4:00 AM

http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/08/25/alg_joseph_pabon.jpg
Suspect Joseph Pabon stood in court Monday facing murder and kidnap charges.

An elevator operator charged with murdering a cleaning woman in a lower Manhattan building gave police inconsistent accounts of his movements the night of the grisly slaying, according to court documents.

Suspect Joseph Pabon told cops he left work early July 7, the night 46-year-old grandmother Eridania Rodriguez went missing, because he had diarrhea and vomited repeatedly - but later admitted buying beer that night.

Pabon, 25, told detectives he didn't know why he drank alcohol if he was so sick.

He also said he washed his clothes and ate a steak and fries in bed when he got home to Staten Island, despite having a bout of stomach flu.

Prosecutors released the statement - made a day after Rodriguez disappeared and three days before her decomposing body was found in an air duct in the Rector St. office building - after Pabon pleaded not guilty yesterday in Manhattan Supreme Court to murder and kidnapping charges. He was held without bail and faces life in prison if convicted.

Rodriguez was asphyxiated with heavy tape, and cops, who said they found Pabon's DNA under her fingernails, believe she was alive when she was shoved into the duct.

Pabon's lawyer, Mario Gallucci, called the evidence against his client circumstantial, and said outside the courtroom that most of the DNA found under the victim's fingernails "was a woman's DNA."

Inside the courtroom Pabon's sister, brother and girlfriend, Lisa Marie Blumenberg, sat, and, at one point, laughed. Across the aisle, a dozen of Rodriguez's family members sat quietly weeping.

"It's hard to see someone who did this to somebody so dear to me," Victor Martinez, Rodriguez's brother, said outside court.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/08/25/2009-08-25_elevator_man_arraigned_in_cleaners_killing.html