Unsolved: Nahomi Rodriguez case remains open 9 years later

HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Thursday marks nine years since 19-year-old Nahomi Rodriguez was last seen alive, opening a case that has yet to be solved.

Rodriguez was last seen while working an overnight shift at a McDonald's in Harlingen on July 16, 2016.

Surveillance footage at the drive-thru window captured an interaction between her and a driver in an SUV before she went missing.

Footage shows that Rodriguez handed the man a drink and then fist-bumped him.

Rodriguez left during her shift at 2 a.m. in a light-colored SUV, believed to be the same vehicle captured in the surveillance footage.

This was the last time she was seen alive.

Developments have unfolded in the nine years since Rodriguez was last seen.

On April 6, 2017, Rodriguez's remains were discovered by a farmer on a canal bank next to a field outside of Rio Hondo.

On July 13, 2023, Harlingen police identified Miguel Angel Flores as the person of interest in Rodriguez's death.

Nahomi Rodriguez and Miguel Angel Flores (Photo courtesy of the Cameron County District Attorney's Office)

As previously reported, Flores is in a state prison serving sentences for aggravated robberies out of Hidalgo and Cameron counties.

His current sentences are 13 and 12 years.

Local, state, and federal agencies are collaborating with the Harlingen Police Department to solve the case.