Suspect in killing of pregnant Wisconsin woman arrested in Kansas City’s Northland
A 26-year-old man wanted for murder in Wisconsin in the killing of his pregnant girlfriend, whose body was found inside a purple suitcase three years ago, was arrested Thursday by Gladstone police.
Jose E. Dominguez-Garcia, of Reedsburg, Wisconsin, has an arrest warrant from the state on two counts of first-degree intentional homicide and the concealment of a corpse. He is accused of killing Rosaly Rodriguez, 26, and her unborn baby, according to news reports from the state.
Early Thursday, shortly after midnight, Gladstone police were alerted to a scan by an automated license-plate-reading camera of a plate that had been reported stolen, Capt. Karl Burris said in a statement.
When officers contacted the driver in a parking lot, he gave different names when asked who he was and was carrying multiple identification cards, Burris said. The officers ultimately determined the driver was Dominguez-Garcia and learned he was sought by authorities in Wisconsin.
Dominguez-Garcia was questioned by police there after Rodriguez went missing in July 2020, the Leader-Telegram, a newspaper in Wisconsin’s Chippewa Valley, reported in December 2021. Dominguez-Garcia and Rodriguez had worked together at a restaurant and bar in the Wisconsin Dells area, which is known for its tourism and theme parks.
Three months later, Rodriguez’s body was found roughly 140 miles away at a farm in Chippewa County, the newspaper reported. Authorities alleged when charges were filed that Dominguez-Garcia was linked to the crime by DNA evidence and a vehicle registered to him that had signs of human decomposition in its trunk.
Online court records show the Wisconsin warrant was issued in December 2021.
Dominguez-Garcia was arrested and booked in the Clay County jail on Thursday. He was being held there pending a transfer to Wisconsin authorities.
This story was originally published November 24, 2023 at 6:05 PM.
