Strangled, Raped Preteen Girl Found Under Dad’s Bed After Texting Him About Stranger at the Door

A Texas father arrived home from work this week to find his young daughter dead beneath his bed, police confirmed. The 11-year-old girl had previously texted him to say a stranger was knocking at the door of the home.

Police in Pasadena, a city in the Houston metro area, have no suspects yet in the death of little Maria Gonzalez, who was strangled and beaten to death on Saturday morning. No arrests have been made, and detectives have announced they've eliminated her 32-year-old father, Carmelo Gonzalez, as a suspect.

The grieving father left Maria home alone while he went to work. After receiving the troubling text, he tried calling her, but couldn't reach her. Gonzalez then called relatives who live nearby, who went to check on her, but found no trace of her.

Gonzalez returned home, and called 911 after finding Maria's body wrapped in a trash bag that was placed in a laundry basket that was slid beneath his bed.

She was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators have also said that she was sexually assaulted by her killer, and sustained blunt force trauma to the head.

Maria and her father were originally from Guatemala. They were the only two people living in the home, which they first moved into three months ago. Nothing was missing from the residence.

Investigators ask that anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area around 10 a.m. on Saturday — or those with any other information pertinent to the homicide case — contact Det. Quintanilla at (713) 475-7803 or Det. Mata at (713) 475-7878.