Buried Secrets: The Murder of Jordan Rodriguez
When Cleveland police arrived at the home of Larissa Rodriguez, they believed they were responding to a routine welfare check. The call had come from halfway across the world—from Pakistan—by Scott Rodriguez, the brother of Larissa’s boyfriend, Christopher. Scott had been tipped off about a disturbing confession, one that left him unable to sleep. What began as a check-in on a child’s wellbeing quickly unraveled into one of the most haunting child abuse cases in Ohio’s history.
At first, Larissa seemed calm and cooperative. “Are kids here, you mind?” an officer asked upon arrival. “I have nine all together,” Larissa answered. Some of the children were in her custody, others lived with relatives or had been removed by Child Protective Services. She claimed her 5-year-old son Jordan, who had special needs and developmental delays, was visiting his father in Texas for the holidays. The more she spoke, the more inconsistencies emerged. She didn’t have the father’s number. She stumbled over his name. And the supposed trip to Texas sounded more like an excuse than the truth.
Jordan, a non-verbal child with autism-like symptoms, had been missing for over three months, but no one had reported it—not Larissa, not Christopher, not even family members who visited the home.
Detectives began to dig deeper. Larissa’s life was chaotic. She had nine children with multiple fathers and had met Christopher Rodriguez through a dating app just two years earlier. Christopher quickly moved into her home, and the two had a child together, with another on the way. Reports from social workers painted a disturbing picture: cockroach-infested meals, children found dirty and neglected, and severe developmental delays in Jordan due to lack of care.
Christopher, who had been arrested on unrelated charges and was being held in the Medina County Jail, was not present when police conducted their welfare check. But it soon became clear he played a central role in what happened to Jordan.
Social workers had flagged the Rodriguez household for years. In one especially disturbing report, a child was seen eating a sandwich that contained a cockroach. Larissa’s ex-boyfriend, Jacob Wagner, corroborated the filth and negligence, telling police that she had stopped cleaning the house entirely and neglected to feed or bathe the children. According to him, Jordan received the worst of it. He was frequently isolated, denied food, and left to suffer in silence.
Jordan’s disabilities made him especially vulnerable. He couldn’t speak. He had difficulty learning. His behavior—such as removing his diaper and smearing feces—was a sign of deep neglect, not malice. But Larissa and Christopher responded not with compassion, but with cruelty. According to Larissa’s own sister, Jordan was sometimes tied up and gagged with socks. He was left alone in a closet for hours. The other children told investigators that Jordan was punished the most, and when he was “bad,” he’d be forced into the closet again and again.
The truth was finally unearthed—literally—when investigators received a tip from Christopher’s brother Scott. Acting on his concern, they returned to Larissa’s property with shovels, cadaver dogs, and a grim determination to find out what really happened to the missing child.
After three hours of digging in the backyard of Larissa’s West 80th Street home, authorities made a sickening discovery. Jordan’s small body was found buried in garbage bags beneath the soil. He had been dead for months. His decomposed remains bore signs of severe abuse and neglect, including malnutrition and untreated injuries.
An autopsy would later reveal that Jordan had suffered significant trauma before his death, but the full extent of what he endured in his short life may never be known. What was clear was that he had been failed—by his parents, by the system, and by everyone who had a chance to intervene sooner.
In the weeks that followed, Larissa and Christopher were both charged with multiple felonies, including murder, felonious assault, child endangerment, and gross abuse of a corpse. Larissa pled guilty and was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Christopher was also convicted and sentenced to 28 years.
The Rodriguez case became a flashpoint in the conversation about child welfare reform in Ohio. How could a child with known disabilities, living in an infamously unfit home, simply disappear for three months without anyone noticing? How many reports of abuse and neglect must be filed before meaningful action is taken?
Jordan’s story is one of unimaginable suffering, but it is also a cautionary tale. It reveals the cracks in the social support systems meant to protect the most vulnerable. It shows how abuse can fester in secrecy, masked by lies, confusion, and a mother’s false calm. And it underscores the necessity of follow-through when red flags are raised by social workers, neighbors, and family members.
This wasn’t just a tragic accident or one-time lapse in judgment—it was a prolonged, systematic abuse of a disabled child who couldn’t cry for help. A child who was buried in the same backyard where he once played.
Jordan Rodriguez’s short life was marked by silence—both his own, due to his disabilities, and the silence of those who should have spoken up louder and sooner. In the end, it was only after his death that the full horror came to light.
But perhaps the loudest voice now is that of justice—too late to save Jordan, but essential to ensuring his memory is not buried like his body was: forgotten, discarded, hidden from view.
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