Who was Keishla Rodríguez? Woman found dead after telling boxer Felix Verdejo she's pregnant with his child
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO: It's been claimed that a body discovered by Puerto Rican authorities is that of Keishla Rodriguez Ortiz, after her family claimed the woman's dress appeared identical to her work uniform.
Ortiz disappeared on Thursday morning after informing professional boxer Felix Verdejo and his wife that she was expecting his child, her family claims. Verdejo had been the only one to see her. Officers arrived on Saturday, May 1, at around 2 pm in the area of the Teodoro Moscoso Bridge after a body was discovered floating in the San José lagoon area, according to Metro.pr.
The police commissioner said Verdejo is a person of interest, but not a suspect, adding they have a video of a van dumping the body. The welterweight from San Juan was questioned on the evening of April 29. Here's all you need to know about who Keishla Rodríguez Ortiz was.
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Who was Keishla Rodríguez Ortiz?
Ortiz, 27, was a responsible young woman who loved and defended animals, was attentive, calm, a coffee lover, and close to her family, her mother Keila Ortiz Rivera recalled in an interview with El Nuevo Día.
“Keishla's friend is me, her mother, and her sister. Keishla goes from work to the house with her animals," Ortiz Rivera said. “I am waiting for her ... I am waiting for her at the entrance of the village. Last night I slept on the furniture waiting for her. I am waiting for her, I am waiting for her ”.
'She doesn't go out, always home with mum and sis'
Before leaving her home in Caimito's Villa Esperanza neighbourhood, Keishla used to call her, make coffee, and didn't leave her house without feeding her dogs, according to her mum. “She is very responsible in her work, she works in grooming. She has two puppies at home, two kittens, she is always rescuing animals," said Ortiz Rivera.
“I always have communication with her, we talk in the morning, at noon, in the afternoon, at night and we are always in communication. [...] Keishla is a girl who does not have friends, does not go out, does not have social networks. She is always talking to me and her sister," added the mother.
A responsible young woman
Last Thursday, Keishla called her mother, but she didn't finish her morning routine: she didn't feed her pets or make coffee. She also missed out on working at Carolina's Pet Salon on Campo Rico Avenue, reported El Nuevo Día. The news outlet contacted the workplace but no response was received at the time.
The last time she spoke to her daughter, for whom a Pink Alert had been issued, Rodriguez Ortiz informed her that she would meet with boxer Félix "El Diamante" Verdejo and show him a fertility test and blood examination that proved she was pregnant for a month and a half.
“Yesterday we spoke at 7:00 am she told me: 'Mommy, Felix is coming to see the pregnancy test, and the blood test.' I told her: 'Girl, be careful', because he had already threatened her not to have the baby, that he has his family, that he is a boxer, that he is a public figure ... About 9:30 am my other girl calls me. 'Mommy, Marlen is not at work, the boss called me.' That for me is super weird," she said.
'Don't worry, I just want my baby'
Following this, the boxer did not meet Keishla at her house, but summoned her to another place. As soon as she found out that her daughter did not attend work, Ortiz Rivera recalled the conversation she had with Keishla and asked her other daughter to call up the boxer. But when she asked Verdejo where Rodriguez was, he said "I don't know".
"And then I said to him: 'You're already lying to me, that's the first lie. Because she talked to me a little while and told me that you were going to her house when you finished exercising," said Ortiz RIvera, adding that the boxer said he "did not know about her".
“When she told him she was pregnant, then he started threatening her. That if you are going to take them off, that you are going to have an abortion, that if I am a public figure, that if I have a family, that if the family here or there and she said, 'Don't worry, you don't have to admit it, I just want my baby,'” Ortiz Rivera alleged, according to the news outlet. Verdejo and Ortiz had an 11-year friendship, according to Ortiz's relatives and news source Primera Ahora.
On being interviewed by Telemundo, Keishla's family said Felix Verdejo “was using her”, according to Pinforma.
Bereliz Nichole, Ortiz's sister, said Rodriguez knew Verdejo before he met his new partner, according to NY Fights. She also said that Verdejo and his wife confronted Keishla about their relationship three months earlier.