AFTER EXTENSIVE SEARCH EFFORTS INVESTIGATORS LOCATE SKELETAL REMAINS BELIEVED TO BE MISSING DEFUNIAK SPRINGS WOMAN

Posted on December 15, 2023

A man dives in a pond with a small dock in the foreground.
A white male and a white female in black jackets with Walton County Sheriff
A black female deputy wearing a black ball cap and a black jacket holds up her hand with four fingers up as indicating the number four. She is standing in a wooded area.
A black female and a white male with a shaved head walk along a path in a wooded area.
Two white men in long sleeve black jackets walk in a line in a wooded area.
A woman on a horse walking beside a man in jeans and a black long sleeve shirt in a wooded area.
Crime scene tape riped and tied around multiple trees in a wooded area.
White male wearing navy blue pants and sweatshirt standing beside another man wearing dive gear on the banks of a pond where a diver is off in the distance.
A white male holds a clip board wearing a longsleeve brown shirt standing on the banks of a pond where a diver is in the water.
White male wearing navy blue pants and sweatshirt standing beside another man wearing dive gear on the banks of a pond where a diver is waste deep adjusting his dive mask.
Photo of a white woman with black hair wearing a blue shirt and red lipstick.

WALTON COUNTY, FLA— Following an extensive search effort, Walton County Sheriff’s Office has located skeletal remains Thursday believed to be a missing DeFuniak Springs woman.

The discovery was part of an expanded search effort following an investigation involving, Angela Rodriguez, 33, who was reported missing by her boyfriend after she disappeared from his home on John Boland Road the night of October 12th.

Rodriguez had an extensive medical history and had been previously treated for mental health issues. Walton County Sheriff’s Office was concerned for Rodriguez’s well-being as she was without necessary medication.

Over the next two months, Walton County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Bureau conducted multiple searches of properties and bodies of water adjacent to where Rodriguez went missing.

The searches included the assistance of the newly invigorated WCSO Mounted Posse, as well as extensive area grid searches with cadaver dogs from Legacy K9 Search Team on multiple occasions. In addition, the WCSO Dive Team searched six bodies of water in the area surrounding John Boland Road with negative results.

Thursday, the search was expanded northeast to a vacant wooded lot located at the end of Edgewood Drive where the skeletal remains were found.

At this time, investigators believe the remains to belong to Angela Rodriguez. Our agency is working closely with the District One Medical Examiner’s Office to make positive identification.

“While this is not the outcome we hoped for, Angela’s family can now begin the process of grieving,” said Sheriff Michael Adkinson. “I applaud the unrelenting effort of our investigators to bring closure to her loved ones.”

This investigation is still open, and we are working with the Medical Examiner’s Office to determine cause and manner of death.

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