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HOUSTON - Eight years after the disappearance of 29-year-old Maria Rodriguez in Houston, a man has been found guilty of her murder.
A jury returned the verdict against Erik Fardell Arceneaux on Thursday.
Rodriguez’s remains have never been found.
Maria Rodriguez reported missing in 2018
Rodriguez was last seen on June 21, 2018, after she left her daughter with the babysitter before heading to work.
According to investigators, her coworker reported receiving unusual text messages saying she would be late, and then another one hours later saying she was being chased by three men.
Her sister reported her missing when she didn't show up for work or pick up her daughter from the babysitter's home.
Questions about their relationship
Arceneaux reportedly told police that he and Rodriguez were a couple. According to the district attorney's office, they were dating for six months.
After her disappearance, her family raised questions about their relationship.
"She never said that she had a boyfriend. She would go to the gym. What I know is that he’s her trainer and, what I’ve learned is that, he kept like texting her and sending her notes," her sister told FOX 26 in 2019.
Cell phone records reveal details of disappearance
Rodriguez’s sister found call logs from that morning and shared them with FOX 26 back in 2019.
"I found out that he had called her a million times, so I reached out to him," her sister, Gloria, told FOX 26. "Supposedly, she was supposed to take him to an interview that day. Supposedly, she never made it to his house."
According to court documents, cell phone records showed Arceneaux’s and Rodriguez’s phones together near his house on Evella Street the day she disappeared. Police also found a surveillance video allegedly showing the suspect walking away from Rodriguez’s truck after abandoning it in the 100 block of Port Street. Later that same day, Arceneaux was allegedly seen leaving a Home Depot with a chainsaw and trash bags.
Suspect arrested 4 years after murder charge
Arceneaux was charged with murder in 2019.
He was finally arrested in 2023 in Houston by members of the U.S. Marshals' Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force.
He was booked into the Harris County Jail, and his bond was set at $1 million.
The Source: The information in this article comes from previous FOX 26 reporting including court documents and information from investigators.