By Forum Staff
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Monday that a female homicide victim, whose identity remained unknown for more than three decades, has now been identified as Judy Rodriguez by using advanced DNA testing.
Rodriguez’s unidentified body, bound at the ankles with a cord and covered with a large wooden board, was discovered on Aug. 25, 1991, in a grassy area at the intersection of Cross Island and Southern State parkways in southeast Queens.
Four men were prosecuted and convicted in 1992 and 1993 for their roles in the killing, but the identity of the victim remained unknown. Rodriguez was reported missing by her family shortly after being last seen on Jan. 23, 1991, at her daughter’s first birthday party.
Four men, age 18, 19, 20 and 20 at the time of the killing, were arrested and charged in August and September of 1991.
One of the defendants pleaded guilty in September 1992 to manslaughter in the first degree and received a sentence of 8 1/3 to 25 years in jail. He was released in 2009 and discharged from parole in August 2016.
Two others pleaded guilty in October 1992 to reckless endangerment in the first degree and received a sentence of 2 1/3 to seven years in prison. They were released in 1996 and discharged from parole in April 1998. A fourth defendant pleaded guilty in February 1993 to hindering prosecution and received a sentence of 1 ½ to 4 ½ years in prison. He was released in 1996 and discharged from parole in July 1997.
DA Katz said that according to the original charges and the investigation, the four men approached the victim sometime between July 15 and August 15, 1991. The men proceeded to drive Rodriguez to the intersection of the Cross Island and Southern State parkways. During the drive, two of the men tied the victim up. Once they arrived at the location, the men pushed the victim out of the car and one of them exited the car and struck Rodriguez on the head with a large metal flashlight, causing her death. The foursome then drove away.
Approximately two weeks later, the four men returned to the scene and attempted to conceal the body by placing a large wooden board over the victim.
On Aug. 25, 1991, police received a call reporting a dead body underneath a wooden board at the parkway intersection. The responding officers discovered the victim but were unable to establish her identity because the body was severely decomposed. However, an investigation was launched, and the four men were arrested and charged approximately one week later.
In November 2023, the Queens DA’s Cold Case Unit and the NYPD sought the assistance of a private laboratory to help generate leads to the unknown victim’s identity.
In April 2024, DNA Labs International used advanced DNA testing to produce a comprehensive genealogical profile from the skeletal remains. The genealogical profile was uploaded to public databases. The results were given to Detective Joseph Rodriguez of the NYPD’s Investigative Genealogy Squad, who built a family tree and turned over an investigative lead to the Queens District Attorney’s Office and the NYPD’s Cold Case Squad. Investigators then began to contact potential family members of the victim and obtained DNA samples for comparison to the discovered remains.
Through these combined efforts, investigators confirmed that the remains found were those of 30-year-old Judy Rodriguez.
