Police investigate remains, but believe Benitez is alive

Despite skeletal remains, officials stick to theory that Frederick woman has fled to her native El Salvador

Autopsies revealed that Rodriguez died of hanging; three girls from suffocation; and the couple’s son from blunt-force trauma to the head. Police believe Rodriguez killed the children. Benitez was last seen by neighbors on March 18, 2007.

Lt. Shawn Martyak, commander of the Frederick Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division, said police are in a ‘‘holding pattern” as they await DNA results on the remains. While the possibility exists they are Benitez, Martyak said police still think she fled the United States.

‘‘We had unconfirmed sightings of her [last spring] ... in Honduras and El Salvador,” Martyak said. ‘‘If in fact [the remains] turn out to be her, there will be a lot of questions I’m not sure we can answer. [Benitez and Rodriguez] had no ties to the northern part of the county. They kept to themselves, worked locally and have no connection there.”

Despite that belief, Martyak said anytime there are similarities between a missing person and remains discovered ‘‘in Frederick County or elsewhere in the United States,” police look into it.

On March 3, the Office of the Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy on the remains found near the intersection of Saint Anthony’s Road and Helmer Road near Emmitsburg. The remains were found Feb. 29.

The autopsy determined that the skeletal remains were a petite Hispanic female, about 25 years old, with long dark hair. The victim stood about 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighed 125-140 pounds.

According to the Frederick Police Department’s ‘‘Open Investigations” page on their Web site, Benitez is described as 5 feet 2 inches tall, 140 pounds, with black shoulder-length hair. It lists her age as 25.

Cpl. Jennifer Bailey, spokeswoman for the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office, said Frederick police are one of more than 25 law enforcement agencies who believe there is a link between the remains and active missing person investigations. The Sheriff’s Office is working to narrow down that number now that they have a better description of the remains.

The state medical examiner’s office is conducting DNA testing, but results ‘‘could take several months,” she said.

Bailey said the case is being investigated as a homicide, but a cause of death has yet to be determined.

Martyak said items were collected at the family’s Danielle Drive townhouse believed to be those of Benitez, and that investigators have blood samples of each child that can also be used for DNA matching.

Police were unable to locate any dental records for Benitez either in the Frederick area or in California, where she lived with her husband before moving to Maryland, Martyak said.

Martyak added that Benitez family members have been notified about the possible link to the human remains, but called their reaction ‘‘nothing out of the ordinary.”