Last Updated on May 16, 2024 by Silvy
Arrest made after recently adopted dog is found dead in a plastic bag at Fort De Soto Park
Domingo Rodriguez, 66, of St. Petersburg, Florida, was arrested after his newly adopted dog, Dexter, was found decapitated in a plastic bag at Fort De Soto Park on May 14, 2024.
Rodriguez had adopted the 4-year-old bulldog mix from Pinellas County Animal Services just four days earlier, on May 10. Deputies responded to a report of a deceased dog in the mangroves at East Beach in Fort De Soto Park around 6:45 p.m. on May 14.
They found Dexter’s body, with his head decapitated, floating in a plastic bag. Pinellas County Animal Services scanned the dog and confirmed his identity through a microchip. During their investigation, deputies learned that Rodriguez had traveled to Fort De Soto Park on May 11, 2024, with a large cooler in the back of his truck.
Multiple cameras placed him in the area that morning. Bags consistent with the one Dexter’s body was found in were also discovered at Rodriguez’s residence.
Rodriguez’s wife told deputies that Dexter was alive on the evening of May 10, but when she woke up on May 11, both her husband and the dog were gone.
Rodriguez admitted to adopting Dexter but claimed the dog must have run away overnight on May 10. Deputies arrested Rodriguez and charged him with one count of Animal Cruelty and one count of Disposal of Bodies of Dead Animals. He was transported to the Pinellas County Jail. The investigation is ongoing.
