Police ID Woman Whose Body Was Found In Plantation Parking Lot
PLANTATION (CBSMiami) -- Plantation police have identified the woman that was found dead in a Plantation parking lot early Sunday morning.
47-year-old Lisette Rodriguez died of asphyxiation by strangulation, according to the Broward County Medical Examiner's Office.
On Tuesday, Rodriguez's vast close-knit family began flying into South Florida to support each other and begin making arrangements for her burial.
"She was a happy girl, good mother, a good worker," her father George Colon tells CBS 4 News. Colon says his daughter always wanted to help people and worked in the health care field.
She was employed by the Memorial Health Care System.
"She was a wonderful person, didn't deserve it," said her uncle Victor Colon. "Justice has to be served."
Rodriguez has a grown son but three years ago she married a man that was 19 years her junior, and police want to talk to 28-year-old Daniel Rodriguez Pineda. Unfortunately, that may not be so easy.
Authorities say Rodriguez Pineda left the country Sunday night headed for Colombia.
CLICK HERE to watch Joan Murray's report
Last Saturday night Plantation police say Lisette and her husband Daniel were at Conga's Nightclub and Restaurant located at 2079 N. University Drive in Sunrise. According to a friend, the two had been arguing at the nightclub. Lisette was last seen by a friend at 2 a.m. inside Conga's in the company of Rodriguez Pineda.
Plantation police are reviewing surveillance footage to see if the two left together.
"He's definitely someone we want to speak to," said Plantation Police Detective Phil Toman. "His wife was found dead Sunday morning. He flies off Sunday afternoon. He was the last one seen with her."
CBS4 spoke with Rodriguez Pineda's father in Margate.
Daniel Rodriguez Senior had no idea his daughter-in-law was murdered. He says his son was having visa trouble and had to return to Colombia before he was deported.
"We had no idea what was going on in the marriage," says Colon.
The victim's family said they did not know Daniel very well and were surprised he had left for Colombia.
Detectives are asking anyone who may have been at Conga's on Saturday night into early Sunday morning and know anything about the death of Lisette Rodriguez to contact them. Anyone with information is urged to call the Plantation Police Department at 954-797-2100 or through CrimeStoppers at 954-493-TIPS.
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