Los Angeles police have reported the recovery of the body of Elias Rodriguez. The body was recovered at 1:15 p.m. EST. It was found along a stretch of the river in Los Feliz. After finding the body, an unidentified person reported its location to police. Victoria White, a police spokeswoman said that the teenager may have been swept away by the raging waters of the Pacoima Wash. This would have occurred as a result of a recent storm. Water from the wash flows into the Los Angeles River.
Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti addressed the press soon after the body’s retrieval in a statement. “There is nothing more painful than the loss of a child, and the thoughts and prayers of all Angelenos are with the loved ones of Elias Rodriguez,” he said. “Words cannot capture the agony that Elias’ grieving family has felt since his disappearance,” he concluded.
14-year old Elias Rodriguez was reported missing on February 17th. This was after he failed to get back home from school. The teenager had disappeared while walking his grandmother home after school. This was during the storm that had recently rocked the area, locking residents of the area indoors. His route included crossing the Pacoima Wash. The wash then leads to the area that the unidentified person found the body, 18 miles downriver.
Captain Peter Casey of the Los Angeles Police Department described the condition of Elias’ body while standing near a section of the river where the body was found. “It’s difficult to talk about because it was a hard thing to see,” the captain said, “but obviously beat up from the canal and the water. The water is flowing fast right now, but on Friday the water was about 70 miles an hour.”
The FBI had volunteered its services in joining the search for the 14-year old boy. Los Angeles Police Department had also volunteered emotional support for the family during this trying time and has continued to do so even after the body’s retrieval. Mr. Garcetti has also given instructions to members of his Crisis Response Team to go and be with Rodriguez’s family and “to do everything possible to help them through what is surely their worst nightmare.”
Law enforcement agencies are currently awaiting a match from dental records for the official confirmation of Rodriguez’s body.
The retrieval of the body is just one of the numerous examples of effects of storms in Los Angeles. Leading to the destruction of property worth millions as well as the loss of other lives, storms have affected the residents of Los Angeles for a long time.
It has also shed a new light onto missing child reports and the reaction of state policemen. Response to the Rodriguez case was quick, with police taking their time to undertake a thorough investigation. The inclusion of the FBI in looking for the missing body and their co-operation with the local police also cast national law enforcement in a positive light.
