Cops Identify Torso Found in Oakwood

DNA tests have confirmed a frozen torso found in Oakwood in December matches a severed head discovered two weeks prior in Brooklyn, police said.

The victim, police said, was 21-year-old Brooklyn male.

A series of five tests showed the body parts were that of Bensonhurst resident Daniel Rodriguez, said Detective Unit (PDU) in Brooklyn.

The arms and legs never were found, Caban said.

Detectives have no motive for the slaying.

Rodriguez was killed before he was dismembered, Caban said. The investigator would not cite a cause of death or say if the victim had ben shot or stabbed.

"Because it is a homicide investigation, I can't give out any information," he said.

However, a police source who requested anonymity said Rodriguez may have been shot through the head. The victim, according to the source, did not appear to have suffered any wounds to his torso.

The detective said a date of death has not been established because Rodriguez was reported missing on Nov. 21 but was not identified until much later by his mother.

Rodriguez' torso was discovered on (Long Island) on Dec. 12. His head was found in Brooklyn on Nov. 30. Detectives are not sure where he was killed.

A police sergeant on routine patrol around 5:30 a.m. came across the torso when he drove into a parking lot behind 3295 Amboy Rd.

The frozen torso was wrapped in several layers of plastic and sealed with duct tape. No clothing was found in the package. At the time, a city medical examiner was only able to determine that the torso was that of a white male.

Rodriguez' head was found Nov. 30 by an employee of Solid Waste Management and Consulting, a private garbage transfer station in Sunset Park. Several private companies cart garbage to the station from all five boroughs.

The trash is then compacted into cubes and secured with metal bands and sent to a garbage dump in Virginia.

The employee, working on a conveyer belt, discovered the head when one bale burst open and the head rolled out.

The detective said the investigation remains open and investigators are looking into leads regarding any possible suspects.

Caban asks anyone with information regarding the crime to contact the squad at (718) 965-6336. All calls will be kept confidential.