TX - Maria Gonzalez, 11, father found her dead underneath a bed in their apt, strangled, SA & beaten, Pasadena, 12 Aug 2023 *Arrest*

[investigatefred]

Some burning questions:
So she txt dad that a person is at the door.
What exact time was the 1st txt?
Did she describe the person? Maybe she only heard knocking.
Why did dad not send relatives immediately???
Questions about after 10am... but nobody shows up til 1pm? 3 hours of danger?
She would open the door after being told not to? Why... relative or new person just met?
Fake badge? Uniform?

Sure seems like perp knew cameras were out of order... had to.

my 1 and 1/2 cents anyway.

I totally agree!
I honestly just can't wrap my brain around the timeline-

Dad leaves for work at 9:45am.

Daughter texts dad shortly after 10am that someone was at the door.

Dad sends a few more texts, (times unknown), with no reply.

Dad contacts Aunt & Uncle 3 HOURS later about 1pm to check on her???
____________________

I just can't imagine waiting so long to have someone check on my child after receiving a concerning message 15 minutes after leaving for work. Maybe that's just me, but this has been bothering me all day just trying to make sense of the hours inbetween. If my child was concerned enough to contact me, and I didn't get a reply from them right away, I'd have immediately returned home myself. MOO

 

[dgfred]

But what fool would do that with all those cameras around? Had to know not working. Or didn't care.
Crazy, but there are some people in that state of mind.

If my daughter calls/txt me from home and is in danger... calling all neighbors, friends, and family to get there asap even if I couldn't.

So they finally check on her, see disturbances in kitchen area, don't find her immediately... then LEAVE?

I just don't understand... maybe I am off on details of times or something. Dang

 

[SpicyFruit]

I totally agree!
I honestly just can't wrap my brain around the timeline-

Dad leaves for work at 9:45am.

Daughter texts dad shortly after 10am that someone was at the door.

Dad sends a few more texts, (times unknown), with no reply.

Dad contacts Aunt & Uncle 3 HOURS later about 1pm to check on her???
____________________

I just can't imagine waiting so long to have someone check on my child after receiving a concerning message 15 minutes after leaving for work. Maybe that's just me, but this has been bothering me all day just trying to make sense of the hours inbetween. If my child was concerned enough to contact me, and I didn't get a reply from them right away, I'd have immediately returned home myself. MOO

I can understand this thought process. But we don't know what her father's job is. Unless I missed it somewhere? He could very well have a job that will not allow him to be on his phone. He may have only been on his phone during breaks or lunch. The Aunt & Uncle just leaving was probably more problematic to me. You know your Niece has not been heard from, you go into the home, doors open or unlocked, the house is messed up, your niece is nowhere to be found and you don't immediately dial 911 or at least call 911 within an hour or so? But then maybe they were waiting for directions from her Father? If they ruled Dad out, they must have solid evidence that he was wherever he says he was because they ruled him out pretty quickly.

 

[Fika]

What a horrible case!

I think it’s the neighbour ( no anyone in mind) .Neighbour knows routine of dad when he comes in and out of work, not unusual at all. Some neighbours are really close and it isn’t hard to figure out routine.
She might have opened the door to a neighbour. In the end it wasn’t a stranger.

I also don’t think that timeline of texts it’s off,dad knew she will not open the door to stranger, doors was locked, it was middle of the day in apartment complex. Knocking itself shouldn’t be such a dangerous situation to rush home imo.
We also don’t know his job, not everyone can have or use phone during work. It’s possible he noticed she didn’t respond late.IMO

 

[PawneeDew]

I think it is more evidence to suggest that someone had knowledge of the household's schedule. knew she was there alone and dad at work. maybe even knew there were family members elsewhere in the building who check in on her if and when needed. Dad called relative who also resides in building to go check on her. relative goes into the apartment but does not see here, reports to dad she doesn't appear to be there. The hiding of her body did indeed buy time for the perp if that was the thought process behind hiding her.

Also knew security cams were not working? Maybe lives in same complex..

 

[tlcya]

Also knew security cams were not working? Maybe lives in same complex..

have we heard for sure the cameras weren't working? I know earlier stories mentioned LE was unsure if they were working but that was earlier on in the investigation.

 

[SpicyFruit]

“Que se arrepienta y Dios lo perdone”: mensaje de madre de niña violada y asesinada en Pasadena

Ana Elizabeth Xitumul Saput se encuentra en Guatemala y desde allí habló en exclusiva con Telemundo Houston sobre el crimen de su hija.

www.telemundohouston.com

"Ana is in Guatemala, her home country, where she is treated for a serious heart condition that motivated her to allow Maria to travel to the United States some time ago in search of a better future."

"Telemundo Houston also spoke with Maria's uncle, Reginaldo González, who went to the apartment at the call of his brother Carmelo, who was working on Saturday at the time of the deadly attack on the minor.
"When I opened the door there was sugar and coffee on the couch, I felt something different," said Reginaldo, who revealed that the girl's body was put inside a dirty laundry basket covered with a bag."

"Carmelo and her daughter moved to Pasadena about two months ago after living in Florida and Austin, Texas. The father said that he sought out this city because he had family there and he wanted the girl to grow up with her cousins."

 

[PawneeDew]

have we heard for sure the cameras weren't working? I know earlier stories mentioned LE was unsure if they were working but that was earlier on in the investigation.

Yes, positive. Said storms knocked cameras out. Cameras were not functioning.

 

[tlcya]

Yes, positive. Said storms knocked cameras out. Cameras were not functioning.

then yes, I would add that to my growing has to have been someone close

 

[Boots38]

That is exactly what I have been wondering! Stranger knocking on door at 10am would have me racing home or calling authorities to check. Sending family at 1pm which is 3 hours after final text about a stranger knocking is weird to me. Now add 2 more hours before leaving work after child isn't found in her apartment at 1pm and arriving home at 3pm to check on her just adds so many questions for me.

I hope they find this horrible person very soon!!

 

[Yemelyan]

That is exactly what I have been wondering! Stranger knocking on door at 10am would have me racing home or calling authorities to check. Sending family at 1pm which is 3 hours after final text about a stranger knocking is weird to me. Now add 2 more hours before leaving work after child isn't found in her apartment at 1pm and arriving home at 3pm to check on her just adds so many questions for me.

I hope they find this horrible person very soon!!

I think I have some of the same questions you do, but on the other hand I have a job that I can leave at a moment's notice to race home (and I won't be fired for it); and I have always had good, helpful, respectful interactions with law enforcement so I would have no hesitation about getting them involved -- but I also recognize that not everyone has the same experiences and situations that I do and may act differently without it being necessarily suspicious. Though it does raise questions, as you say.

 

[investigatefred]

Dad says daughter texted that someone was knocking on door before she was found dead in Pasadena

The 11-year-old's dad told ABC13 his daughter texted him and said someone was knocking on the door. Five hours later, he found her body hidden under a bed.

abc13.com

"Maria's cause of death was ruled as asphyxiation due to strangulation and blunt force head and neck trauma, according to the medical examiner. Additional investigation determined that she had also been sexually assaulted."

--------
I thought a previous article only mentioned strangulation and the SA. I have not previously seen it also stating blunt force head and neck trauma.

 

[Yemelyan]

Dad says daughter texted that someone was knocking on door before she was found dead in Pasadena

The 11-year-old's dad told ABC13 his daughter texted him and said someone was knocking on the door. Five hours later, he found her body hidden under a bed.

abc13.com

"Maria's cause of death was ruled as asphyxiation due to strangulation and blunt force head and neck trauma, according to the medical examiner. Additional investigation determined that she had also been sexually assaulted."

--------
I thought a previous article only mentioned strangulation and the SA. I have not previously seen it also stating blunt force head and neck trauma.

I think a previous article said "beaten" along with strangled and sexually assaulted but didn't specify blunt force to the head.

 

[nao]

Moo...why would the dad be worried about someone knocking door. She probably has usual rule.. don't open for stranger. Logically she would go to door and ask who there, no need to open door....moo

 

[Springrain]

Oh, how absolutely awful. These cases are just so deeply infuriating on every level. Her poor family. And innocent Maria. She didn't deserve this. It breaks my heart. We need to see JUSTICE for her SOON.

I would like to just recommend to everyone that we keep an open mind and reserve judgment about dad and her family. Not everyone can leave a job at a moment's notice, especially since we don't know what his job was. It's easy for us in hindsight to say he should have done xyz, etc. but we don't know all their circumstances. And either way, he's suffering more than enough now. He will have to live with this for the rest of his life and I don't think he needs any more guilt than I am sure he is already full of. JMO.

 

[tlcya]

Moo...why would the dad be worried about someone knocking door. She probably has usual rule.. don't open for stranger. Logically she would go to door and ask who there, no need to open door....moo

Why wouldn't he be worried about her opening the door?

here is my thought. the conversation about someone knocking happened very shortly after dad left the complex for work. she may have told him about someone knocking because she wondered if it were him, having forgotten something and come back for it.

He assures her it's not him and remember the rule, don't open the door. She conveys she has no plans to she is still in bed (presumably upstairs?).

He then tries to check in on her an hour or so later and no answer/response to calls or texts. Maybe she fell back to sleep, he thinks, but the worry has set in. So at around 1pm he calls brother and SIL in the complex (different apartment) to go and pop in on her - just to be sure all is well.

They find the apartment unlocked, looking a little "off" but no sign or Maria. they contact dad to tell him they see no sign of her. Dad arranges to leave work and head home to see what the heck is going on, finds his daughter

 

[imstilla.grandma]

“I left her alone in the apartment and she was sending voice notes saying that someone was on the door. I told her not to open the door and that I was leaving work,” an emotional Mr Gonzalez told Univision in Spanish.

Mr Gonzalez eventually found Maria’s remains wrapped inside two plastic bags and stuffed inside a basket placed under the girl’s bed.

Mr Bruegger said the door was locked when family members first arrived searching for Maria. He said the entrance did not appear to have been forced

Texas father finds daughter’s body under bed after she was raped and strangled

Maria Gonzalez and her father had moved into the apartment complex in Pasadena just three months ago

www.independent.co.uk

*so I guess the relatives had keys

 

[tlcya]

“I left her alone in the apartment and she was sending voice notes saying that someone was on the door. I told her not to open the door and that I was leaving work,” an emotional Mr Gonzalez told Univision in Spanish.

Mr Gonzalez eventually found Maria’s remains wrapped inside two plastic bags and stuffed inside a basket placed under the girl’s bed.

Mr Bruegger said the door was locked when family members first arrived searching for Maria. He said the entrance did not appear to have been forced

Texas father finds daughter’s body under bed after she was raped and strangled

Maria Gonzalez and her father had moved into the apartment complex in Pasadena just three months ago

www.independent.co.uk

*so I guess the relatives had keys

odd, all other reports state that the relatives found the door closed but unlocked. this is the only article I have seen that state it was locked. I am wondering if something has been lost in translation.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

He said the Harris County Medical Examiner determined Maria died from asphyxia due to strangulation and blunt force head and neck trauma. Bruegger said evidence showed that the girl was also sexually assaulted in what he described as a “very brutal” and “very violent crime.”

Bruegger said there were no signs of forced entry at the apartment, and the front door was unlocked when Maria’s aunt and uncle arrived to check on her.

Carmelo told Univision that Maria was sending him voice and text messages through WhatsApp about the stranger knocking on the door.

“I told her not to open the door because I was arriving at work,” Carmelo said. He later added, “They took my girl, what I loved the most.”

Texas Girl Sent Eerie Texts Before Dad Found Her Dead Under Her Bed

Cops are frantically hunting for the person who raped and killed Maria Gonzalez, 11, before stuffing her in a trash bag under her bed.

www.thedailybeast.com

*this one says the door was unlocked

While Bruegger police had recovered “quite a bit of digital” evidence, investigators had run into some roadblocks. Security cameras at the complex may not have been working and officers were working to build trust with residents.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/crime/article/pasadena-strangulation-investigation-18297676.php

Mr Bruegger said the door was locked when family members first arrived searching for Maria. He said the entrance did not appear to have been forced.

The little girl’s mother Ana Elizabeth Xitumul Saput and her little sister live in Guatemala. Speaking with Telemundo 47, Ms Saput said she was devastated and dealing with heart issues in addition to the heartbreak of losing her daughter.

“I want justice. I need her killer to turn himself in and I’m asking God that kind-hearted people help us bring our daughter’s remains back to Guatemala,” Ms Saput said.

Texas girl sexually assaulted and strangled to death after texting father ‘someone was knocking on the door’

Maria Gonzalez and her father had moved into the apartment complex in Pasadena just three months ago

news.yahoo.com

*locked

 

[alexwood]

Who knows what kind of ruse was used to gain access to the poor little thing. [Oh, there's a fire! It's the police, you must open the door!] Any number of excuses to get her to open the door. Hopefully there will be cameras around, but I'm not betting on it.