Search for evidence in missing girl case
PUNTA GORDA (AP) – Southwest Florida deputies began digging for evidence on Tuesday in the case of a missing 4-year-old girl who disappeared more than 10 years ago, when she was left in the care of a young baby sitter and never returned.
The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office was joined by forensic specialists, a university anthropologist and NecroSearch International, a nonprofit organization that assists law enforcement and specializes in the search for clandestine graves.
Investigators used sophisticated ground penetrating radar to guide their search of a Punta Gorda property and began digging early Tuesday afternoon.
“This case has continued to be investigated since it was first reported in 1999,” Sheriff Bill Cameron said in a statement. “We will not stop until Pilar Rodriguez is found, the investigation reaches its ultimate conclusion, questions surrounding her disappearance are answered, and those responsible are brought to justice.”
Pilar Rodriguez disappeared in 1999. Her father, Marco Rodriguez, told detectives he gave her baby sitter, Melissa Cooper, then 22, permission to take the child on a two-week vacation. He reported her missing when they didn’t return.
Cooper later told investigators Pilar was the victim of a “totally senseless” crime while she and her boyfriend were in Punta Gorda, about 75 miles south of Tampa.
Cooper’s mother, Deborah Cooper, has said that her daughter claims the girl was fatally beaten by her boyfriend, Keith Allen Wilson. Wilson, meanwhile, has denied any involvement, saying Melissa Cooper told him the child’s father had come for the girl.
“I want to help them in any way,” Wilson said at the time. “But right now they’re only looking in one place – me. And I don’t know anything.
The property investigators searched Tuesday was located at 5052 Duncan Road. Records indicate a Keith Wilson previously lived at a home at that address.