$50,000 Reward Offered as FBI Joins the Search for Missing Teen Elias Rodriguez
Elias Rodriguez
SAN FERNANDO – The Federal Bureau of Investigation has joined the Los Angeles Police Department Mission Area, the Los Angeles School Police, and the San Fernando Police Department in the urgent search for missing 14-year-old Elias ‘Eli’ Rodriguez of Pacoima.
LAPD Mission Station reported that the Latino teen attempted to call his mother’s work from a borrowed cell phone when leaving Cesar Chavez Learning Academy at 1001 Arroyo Boulevard in San Fernando. It was raining heavily as Eli left a message at 1:30 p.m. on February 17, 2017, asking if she could pick him up. Police said she missed the call. No one has seen nor heard from him since.
At today’s news conference in front of the teen’s school, LAPD Capt. Robert Marino said that authorities will revisit the neighborhood in an effort to generate clues to locate Eli, who was last seen near Arroyo and Glenoaks Boulevard.
Elias’ parents
Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson announced approval of a $50,000 reward for information that helps locate Eli. Wesson voiced concern that the recent rainstorm could have brought forward opportunists who would have preyed on Eli’s need for a ride.
Officials conducted a helicopter search of the rain-filled Los Angeles River. Police say Elias has never run away and his disappearance is out of character.
Parents Sergio Rodriguez and Paola Mascorro gathered concerned neighbors and family members to blanket the neighborhood with “Missing Person” notices. Earlier this week, The teen’s parents pleaded for information about their son at a news conference at LAPD Mission Station. Said Eli’s mom, “We just need him to come home – to know he’s okay.”
Eli is 5 feet 4, about 100 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information on the case is encouraged to call LAPD Mission Station at (818) 838-9800.
