Frederick — Police are investigating four tips about Deysi Benitez, 25, said Lt. Tom Chase of the Frederick Police Department. Benitez's disappearance has puzzled investigators since the bodies of her husband and children were found dead in their home Monday.Benitez hasn't been seen since March 18.
Chase did not reveal the nature of the tips or the status of the investigations into them, but said they did come from local sources.
On Friday, police began distributing a missing person flier throughout the Hillcrest community where Benitez lived with her family at 1252 Danielle Drive. According to the document, distributed in both English and Spanish, Benitez is also known as Deysy, Daysi, and Desyi Benitez, as well as Estela Sedillo, born May 25, 1978.
Police believe Benitez's birthday to be Dec. 1, 1981.
Chase said the decision to pass out fliers is standard procedure, and not motivated by the tips received.
On Friday police also enlisted the help of Arlington, Va.-based Airlines Reporting Corporation to check flight records for any sign of Benitez. Chase did not know when he would have the results of the agency's search.
Frederick County State's Attorney Charlie Smith said his office is issuing subpoenas for information relating to her disappearance, including cell phone records.
"Right now we don't want to make any assumptions as to whether she's dead or alive, or whether she was involved or not," he said. "We just want to continue with the investigation and try to locate her whereabouts."
Benitez was last seen by a neighbor, two days after her eldest children — Elsa, 9 and Vanessa, 4 — last attended Hillcrest Elementary School. Benitez's husband, Pedro Rodriguez, 28, learned on March 15 that he would be laid off from his job at Masonite International Corporation, a door manufacturer near Frederick .
"The dates give us direction when it comes to obtaining documents, and how far back we ask people to look," Chase said.
The bodies of Elsa, Vanessa, Angel, 3, who was commonly called Pedro, and Carena, 1, were found wrapped in blankets in two bedrooms of the family's townhouse. Rodriguez's body was found hanged from a stairwell banister.
Autopsy results are expected next week, though authorities have ruled out gunshots and stabbings as a cause of death. Their bodies remain at the Office of the Medical Examiner in Baltimore until it is determined who will handle burial arrangements, Chase said.
