Unsolved Murder

Whoever killed Daniel Rodriguez of Brooklyn wanted to make sure he would never be identified.

The 21-year-old from Bensonhurst was shot, cut into pieces and his head was dumped in Brooklyn while his torso was found in Oakwood. His arms and legs remain lost.

Despite their calculated disposal plan, the killers didn't count on one thing--his mother's faith.

"I was praying that I'd find him. He wanted me to find him," said his mother, who asked only to be identified as Marie.

Marie believes divine intervention was responsible for her son's head rolling between garbage bails at a transfer station in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, on Nov. 30, 1995. The grisly find occurred minutes before the head would have been bailed, stacked and shipped to a Virginia landfill.

A second clue to his identity came the morning of Dec. 12.

Police patrolling Oakwood were drawn to a parking lot behind 3295 Amboy Rd., the former Riviera Chateau restaurant, where they found a man's torso.

Detectives from the 122nd Pct., New Dorp, and the 72nd Precinct in Sunset Park, combined their information in hopes that their respective finds would equal a missing person.

Marie filed a missing persons report the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

It wasn't until Jan. 10 of this year, when she was asked to look at pictures at the citywide missing persons unit in Manhattan, that she spotted a poster with a sketch that resembled her son.

"We spoke and at that point we were 95 percent sure it was her son," said Det. Jose Caban of the 72nd Precinct. Dental records later confirmed their theory.

A month later, DNA testing on the torso and the head confirmed that they belonged to Rodriguez, Caban said.

Detectives are trying to track down Rodriguez's whereabouts from Nov. 21 to Nov. 30. They ask that anyone who might have seen or heard from him during that time period, call 965-6336.

Crime Stoppers is also offering $1,000 for any information leading to the arrest and indictment of the suspects. All calls are anonymous through 800-577-CRIME.