What began as concern when the 21-year-old missed work has grown into a high-profile Arizona investigation.
AVONDALE, Ariz. — The disappearance of Isabella Comas began with the kind of absence relatives and co-workers notice first: she did not pick up a friend for work, she did not report to her job the next day, and no one could reach her by phone.
From that ordinary break in routine, the case grew into one of Arizona’s most closely watched missing-person investigations this year. A Turquoise Alert was issued, police later found Comas’ phone and abandoned car in Phoenix, and investigators eventually said her blood was inside the vehicle. The case now sits at the intersection of a family-led search, a police investigation spanning multiple Valley cities and a criminal case against the boyfriend tied to the car.
State alert information and local reporting show how quickly the search widened. Comas, 21, was last seen about 3 p.m. Jan. 11 after leaving a friend’s residence near 11120 W. Van Buren St. in Avondale. She was described as Hispanic, 5 feet 3 inches tall and about 110 pounds, with brown eyes and pink hair. She was believed to be wearing a baggy navy-blue shirt, blue pants with a white stripe and sandals, and she was driving a red 2011 Hyundai Sonata with Arizona plate 2EA6LW. By Jan. 13, the Arizona Department of Public Safety had issued a Turquoise Alert, a tool used for suspicious missing-person cases. Police said surrounding agencies, hospitals, cab companies and emergency services were contacted, but those checks did not lead to Comas.
As the days passed, the search stopped looking like a routine missing-person report. Comas’ cellphone was located through tracking and recovered after it turned up at a recycling center in Phoenix. Investigators then used digital evidence to follow the phone’s movement through Avondale, Phoenix and an industrial section of El Mirage. Police also said they used surveillance footage and license plate reader data to identify Rodriguez, a recent romantic partner, driving Comas’ car in the Globe area and later in Phoenix after she had disappeared. Those details did two things at once: they gave investigators a clearer map of the case, and they pushed the focus toward a single person already known to police.
The family’s public role has become a major part of the story because they have continued speaking in the long stretch between the disappearance and any larger arrest announcement. Comas’ mother bluntly accused Rodriguez of knowing where her daughter is. Later television interviews with the family came after Rodriguez was released from jail on bond with electronic monitoring, a development that deepened their fear and frustration. In those appearances, the family described the emotional whiplash of getting just enough information to know the case was serious without getting the answer they most wanted. They also turned to outside help, with a private investigator assisting them as the case moved from the first alert stage into a prolonged search.
The facts that most sharply changed the tone of the case came from the Hyundai. Police said the car was found in Phoenix with extensive damage. Court records cited by local outlets described blood-like stains inside, and Avondale police later said testing confirmed the blood was Comas’. The front passenger seat, police spokesman Jaret Redfearn said, was missing. He told reporters detectives believe Comas suffered a life-threatening injury that may have been unsurvivable if left untreated. Even with that statement, important pieces remain unknown in public: where Comas was hurt, whether she left any trace outside the vehicle, what happened after the car was abandoned, and whether investigators have enough to bring more severe charges.
Rodriguez, 39, was arrested Jan. 15 on theft of means of transportation and criminal-damage charges related to the Hyundai, and he has pleaded not guilty. Public reporting has also detailed his earlier second-degree murder conviction and a later stalking case in which records said he threatened an ex-girlfriend and her husband. Those records have intensified public concern, but investigators have continued using narrower language, identifying Rodriguez as a person of interest in the disappearance. For the family and for police, the search is now defined by endurance as much as by urgency: one side continues to wait for answers, while the other continues to work a case whose most disturbing evidence has not yet produced a final public account.
As of April 20, Comas is still missing, the Turquoise Alert case remains open in practical effect, and the next visible developments are expected to come either from new court hearings or from investigators announcing a break in the search.
Author note: Last updated April 20, 2026.