Va. Teen's Drowning Bewilders Mother

Rodger promised to improve, and in September he enrolled at the New Directions Alternative Education Center in Manassas, which serves students who had problems in their traditional school.

But he lasted only a week, said Elmer Magyar, the principal. Rodger's mother said other students beat him up.

Despite his problems, Rodger remained sweet-natured, his mother and stepfather said.

"He tried to help everyone," his stepfather said. "This was the problem."

Early Saturday, a friend called Rodger from Springfield and asked for a ride back to Woodbridge, his family said. Rodger had been drinking beer in his room with a friend, who had fallen asleep, they said. Rodger didn't have a driver's license but loved to drive. He took the keys to his friend's Nissan Pathfinder and headed out, accompanied by another Honduran youth living in the house, his parents said.

At 3:20 a.m., the state trooper clocked him going 90 mph on I-95.

Licklider, the police spokesman, said the trooper handcuffed Roger and put him inside his patrol car, locking the door. The trooper then went to look at the Pathfinder. Suddenly, he looked back at his cruiser and noticed that the passenger door was open.

The trooper then looked over the bridge, saw Rodriguez in the water and called for rescue authorities. When the boy's body was discovered, his hands were still handcuffed.

Licklider said that "occasionally" people escape from locked cruisers because they can slip out of their seat belts and push against the lock button to release the door.

"This kid was driving 90 miles per hour in a 55-mile-per-hour zone, without a license, and he's intoxicated," Licklider said. "I am just thinking to myself that [Rodriguez] did not realize where he was at, that he was jumping into a body of water."