Police Say Father Killed Four Children

Criminal investigators in Frederick have concluded that a man who was found dead at his home in March along with his son and three daughters killed the children before taking his own life, police said yesterday.

Frederick city police Lt. Thomas Chase said investigators have ruled out other theories of the case, including that the children were slain by their missing mother, Deysi Benitez.

Chase said the determination was based on crime scene evidence, which he said was consistent with murder-suicide. In addition, he said, an intensive investigation since the five bodies were found March 26 has turned up nothing to contradict the theory that the children were slain by their father, Pedro Rodriguez.

"There is no indication that we have found, nor any bit of information that we have been told, whether it be specific or rumor, that has indicated that Mrs. Benitez was responsible for those children being killed," Chase said.

Authorities have said that the four children were found dead in their beds and that Rodriguez, 28, was found hanging from a rope tied to a banister. Sisters Elsa, 9, Vanessa, 4, and Carena, 1, were suffocated, and their 3-year-old brother, Angel, died of blunt force trauma, according to medical examiners.

Benitez, 25, has not been seen in Frederick since March 18, and no subsequent alleged sighting has been confirmed. According to the FBI, she has used several aliases in the past, including Estela Sedillo and Rosi Chavez.

The effort to locate Benitez has included FBI interviews in El Salvador, where Benitez and Rodriguez emigrated from separately. The family was in the United States legally, authorities have said.

Chase said that, in the interest of being thorough, authorities had hoped to locate Benitez before disclosing that they had determined the children were slain by Rodriguez. But, Chase said, "there comes a time when the public expects some resolution, and try as we have to find Deysi, we haven't been able to do that."