Tommy Rodriguez has been charged over Isabella Comas’ car, but no one has been charged in her disappearance.
PHOENIX, Ariz. — More than three months after Isabella Comas vanished in the west Phoenix suburbs, the most visible court action has centered not on a homicide or kidnapping count, but on allegations that her boyfriend stole and damaged the car she was driving when she disappeared.
That procedural split is why the case continues to draw attention. Police say evidence in the Hyundai Sonata points to a potentially fatal injury, yet the case moving in open court is still limited to theft and criminal-damage allegations against Tommy Rodriguez, 39. For Comas’ family, the immediate stakes are twofold: the criminal case is moving, but the larger question of where Isabella Comas is has not been answered.
Rodriguez entered the public case on Jan. 15, when Avondale police named him a person of interest and arrested him on charges tied to Comas’ vehicle. Reporting at the time said he was held on a secured bond, and prosecutors later argued he had already gone to great lengths to conceal evidence connected to the Hyundai. He has pleaded not guilty. By March 9, according to later reporting confirmed by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, Rodriguez was released from jail after posting bond and was placed on electronic monitoring. That release upset Comas’ relatives, who told local media they feared the case had not reached the point where the family could feel safe or informed. The bond decision also underscored a hard reality of the file before the court: the charges publicly filed so far are still tied to the car, not to Comas’ disappearance itself.
The gap between the criminal file and the missing-person investigation is especially stark because of what police say they found. Comas, 21, was last seen Jan. 11 after leaving a friend’s residence in Avondale in her red 2011 Hyundai Sonata. Her phone was located the next day at a Phoenix recycling center. Police later said digital evidence, including phone data, surveillance footage and license plate reader hits, showed Rodriguez driving the Hyundai in the Globe area and in Phoenix after Comas disappeared. When the car was recovered in Phoenix, police said it contained a large amount of Comas’ blood and was missing the front passenger seat. Avondale police spokesman Jaret Redfearn said investigators believe she suffered a life-threatening injury that may have been unsurvivable if untreated. Still, police have not publicly disclosed a body, a death scene or a specific theory of charges beyond the vehicle case.
Rodriguez’s past record has become central to how the case is being discussed in public. Court records reviewed by local outlets show he previously served prison time after a second-degree murder case. Those same reviews found a later stalking conviction from 2020 and a probation violation after he was accused of contacting a protected person. In one Glendale-related record cited by ABC15, an ex-girlfriend said Rodriguez threatened to cut her husband into pieces if he could not have her. A probation report described his conduct as a pattern of problematic stalking behavior. Those records are separate from the Comas case, but they have informed public concern and likely helped explain why news coverage has treated the disappearance as more than a standard missing-person file from the start.
The family’s frustration has only grown as the calendar has moved forward. Comas was described in the Turquoise Alert as a 5-foot-3, 110-pound woman with brown eyes and pink hair, last seen wearing a navy-blue shirt, blue pants with a white stripe and sandals. Police said they checked hospitals and other leads without success. Her mother publicly said Rodriguez knows where her daughter is. At the same time, investigators have been careful not to overstate what they can prove in court right now. Publicly, Rodriguez remains a person of interest. Publicly, Comas remains missing. Publicly, the evidence police describe as deeply troubling still has not translated into the kind of charge that would declare, in a courtroom, what investigators think happened.
The next steps are likely to continue on two tracks. The first is the scheduled court progress in the vehicle-related case. The second is the open police investigation, where any new forensic results, witness statements or recovered evidence could change the legal posture quickly. Until then, this remains a case where the court docket tells only part of the story.
Author note: Last updated April 20, 2026.