Right: Age-progressed to 11 years
Right: Age-progressed to 11 years
Name: Pilar Sofia Rodriguez
Case Classification: Lost, Injured, Missing
Missing Since: January 30, 1999
Location Last Seen: Hollywood, Charlotte County, Florida
Date of Birth: February 5, 1995
Age: 3 years old
Race: White/Hispanic
Gender: Female
Height: 3'0"
Weight: 35 lbs (16 kg)
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Brown
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Pilar has a red birthmark on her forehead, between her eyebrows.
Dentals: Unknown
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Unknown
Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown
Pilar vanished in February 1999 from the Trail Apartments in Punta Gorda, when her baby sitter, Melissa Cooper took her to Punta Gorda so she could see her boyfriend. Melissa has since been located in Wisconsin without Pilar. Pilar's father has sole custody.
Pilar was supposed to return to Hollywood, FL. on February 14, 1999, but she never went home.
Sometime around February 7, 1999, Pilar disappeared.
Pilar's father waited nine days before calling Charlotte County Sheriff's detectives.
A massive search for the girl followed. Hundreds of officers spent countless hours searching through woods, fields and a landfill. They even drained Preacher's Lake. But Pilar was never found.
The boyfriend told detectives he came home and found Pilar gone. The babysitter supposedly told him that Pilar's father picked her up.
The babysitter later said her boyfriend beat the child to death, wrapped her in a garbage bag and buried her in an open field.
Melissa Cooper and her boyfriend Keith Wilson were both convicted of crimes involving the disappearance and death of Pilar, but her body has not been found.
Agency Name: Charlotte County Sheriff's Office
Agency Contact Person: Det. Kurt Mehl
Agency Phone Number: (941) 575-5361
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 99015901
NamUs Case Number: 6585
NCIC Case Number: M-192801442
NCMEC Case Number: 860724
NamUs
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
Charlotte County Sheriff's Office
News-Press, December 11, 2017
FDLE
Florida Missing Children Information Clearinghouse
Added: 2-15-2008; Last Updated: 04/13/2023 - By: kc
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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