Left inset: Tommy Rodriguez (Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office). Right inset: Isabella Comas (Avondale Police Department). Background: Isabella Comas’ Hyundai Sonata that Tommy Rodriguez was allegedly caught cruising around in after she disappeared (Avondale PD).
The boyfriend of a 21-year-old Arizona woman who vanished earlier this year was caught driving her blood-soaked car around with the passenger seat missing, years after he told a previous girlfriend he would “cut her husband into pieces,” according to court documents.
Avondale Police tell Law&Crime that Tommy Rodriguez, 39, is considered a person of interest in the disappearance of Isabella Comas after discovering that he allegedly stole her Hyundai Sonata and was driving it in the Globe area hours after she was last seen.
Rodriguez, who was arrested and charged with stealing and damaging Comas’ car, has a prior murder conviction and is currently on probation for a 2020 stalking case involving a previous lover, according to local ABC affiliate KNXV.
Rodriguez dumped Comas’ Hyundai in Phoenix with the passenger seat missing and a “large quantity of blood” inside, according to Avondale Police Public Information Officer Jaret Redfearn, who confirmed the discovery to Law&Crime on Tuesday.
“Based on the evidence discovered in the vehicle at the time, including a large quantity of blood and the removal of the front passenger seat of the car, our detectives believe Miss Comas sustained a life-threatening injury that, if left untreated, may be unsurvivable,” Redfearn confirmed, noting that the blood was confirmed to be Comas’ blood.
Police said in a January press release that Comas was last seen “leaving a friend’s residence” near 11120 W. Van Buren Street in Avondale on Jan. 11. She was driving her Sonata that day and “has not been seen or heard from since,” according to cops.
“She was last seen wearing a baggy navy-blue shirt, blue pants with a white stripe down the side, and sandals,” the police release said. “Surrounding law enforcement agencies have been notified, and area hospitals, cab companies, and emergency services have been contacted with negative results.”
Police say they used surveillance footage and phone data to catch Rodriguez driving Comas’ car. Data from the Life360 app tracked Comas’ phone allegedly moving between Avondale, Rodriguez’s Phoenix residence, and an industrial area in El Mirage that evening before it was found at a Phoenix recycling center on Jan. 12.
Rodriguez was named as a person of interest on Jan. 15 and was arrested on multiple charges, including theft of means of transportation and criminal damage, following the discovery of Comas’ car.
“Tommy, you know 100% where she is,” Comas’ mother told KNXV.
Redfearn said, “Based on our investigation to date, Tommy Rodriguez remains a person of interest in this case and is believed to be connected to Isabella Comas’ disappearance.”
Court documents obtained by KNXV this week reveal that Rodriguez has a prior murder conviction and pleaded guilty to stalking, with the stalking case involving a previous girlfriend who was threatened by him.
Rodriguez told the woman in 2020 he would “cut her husband into pieces” if he couldn’t be with her, according to the documents. Rodriguez pleaded guilty to violating an order of protection after the stalking conviction and is still on probation for the 2020 case. He served six months in jail for the order violation.
Rodriguez is currently out on bond for the charges related to Comas’ car, which he has pleaded not guilty to, according to online court records. He is scheduled to appear in court on April 14 for a pretrial conference.
