Search for girl, 7, may be expanded

Jace Radke

Monday, Oct. 25, 1999 | 11:19 a.m.

Sunday night Ramon Rodriguez sat in his living room surrounded by family and friends as he watched home videos of his 7-year-old daughter, Karla, who has been missing since Wednesday.

The tears rolled down Rodriguez's face as he watched his smiling 7-year-old daughter ride her bike in a video from July.

"It breaks my heart to see this," Rodriguez said. "I want to see my daughter here. I just need my daughter back."

The search for Karla Rodriguez may be widened this week after crews of volunteers and Metro Police officers searched unsuccessfully for her through the weekend.

Karla was last seen playing with friends about 7 p.m. Wednesday in the 700 block of Bonita Avenue, northeast of the intersection of Sixth Street and St. Louis Avenue, police said after interviewing neighbors.

"We have no new leads at this point," Metro Police Detective Gary Sayre said Sunday evening. "We're doing a lot of office interviews and trying to update what we know.

Police know that Karla's mother walked her daughter about halfway to John S. Park Elementary School, 931 Franklin Ave., about 7 a.m. Wednesday from their home in the 700 block of St. Louis near Bonita.

Park Elementary School officials said that Karla did not report to school Wednesday morning.

Police say that when Karla did not return home Wednesday night her parents thought she was staying at a friend's house. She was not reported missing until Thursday morning.

"We have waited 96 hours for her," Ramon Rodriguez said Sunday as he watched yet another home video.

About 30 family members and friends gathered Sunday night at the Rodriguez home, which lies east of Las Vegas Boulevard in the shadow of the Stratosphere tower.

Candles with the likeness of Jesus Christ on them are lit on a small table in the living room that is also crowded with pictures of Karla.

Rodriguez said the table and the pictures help his heart, as he sat a few feet away, splitting his gaze between his daughter playing on the television screen and the glowing candles.

"We are praying every hour that she comes home," Rodriguez said. "I can't sleep at night. I wait in the door hoping she comes walking home."

As many as 20 volunteers and about 30 Metro officers and detectives have been working on finding Karla.

"In the next few days we may expand our search area by at least a map grid in each direction around the area of St. Louis and Maryland Parkway," Sayre said.

Karla was last seen wearing a black jacket, blue and white shirt, and red pants. She is 3 feet 6 inches tall, 50 pounds with wavy, shoulder-length black hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information on Karla's whereabouts is asked to call police at 229-LOST or contact Sayre at 229-2907.