Fugitive continues to avoid capture after murder sentencing

EDINBURG - A Mission man convicted of murder eluded authorities again Wednesday, a day after a jury sentenced him to 40 years in prison.

Jurors found Oscar Rodriguez guilty Tuesday of the 2005 slaying of his ex-girlfriend, Nydia Maldonado, 19, of McAllen. But he and his family did not show up to court to hear the verdict. They had been in the courtroom throughout the trial.

Visiting Judge Jaime Garza issued a warrant for Rodriguez's arrest when he disappeared, but a day later authorities seemed no closer to finding him.

Investigators spent Wednesday tracing the man's cell phone records and had a few hits in Pharr, Hidalgo County Assistant District Attorney Michelle Puig said. However, they now suspect that Rodriguez left his phone there.

After police began searching for Rodriguez and his family Tuesday, his father told police he did not know where his son might have gone, Puig said. Rodriguez left the house some time after coming home from his trial Monday evening and wasn't there Tuesday morning, she said the father told authorities.

Rodriguez was out on a $100,000 bond after his second arrest last year.

A Hidalgo County jury had already found him guilty of Maldonado's murder once before, but a judge threw out that verdict because a witness testified about a polygraph test that had been barred from evidence.

If caught, he is likely to face additional charges for fleeing.

Authorities urge anyone with information on Rodriguez's whereabouts to contact the McAllen Police Department at (956) 972-7406 or the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office at (956) 383-8114.