UPDATED: David Rodriguez, Bayou Body Count No. 86

UPDATE, APRIL 22, 10:AM

Looks like we were wrong about how hard this case would be to crack, as it appears that Harris County Sheriff's Office detectives have done just that. They say that on Sunday, April 18, the victim, now identified as 21-year-old David Rodriguez, was carjacked in the 3000 block of Airline Drive by 36-year-old Christopher Washington and 27-year-old Robert "Flaco" Castillo. Cops allege that Washington and Castillo next took Rodriguez in his own car to this isolated spot, where they shot him once in the head, dumped his body by the side of the road, stripped his car stereo and attempted to take his custom chrome wheels.

Washington and Castillo are now charged with capital murder and held without bail in the Harris County Jail.

Kudos to the HCSO.

Judging by where the body was found, this one looks like that homicide detective's nightmare: a body dump.

Around eleven A.M. yesterday, workers picking up trash in the 12800 block of TC Jester -- an isolated, discontiguous and distant northwest Harris County stretch -- found the body of an unidentified Hispanic male. The Harris County Sheriff's Office says he had been shot to death, and describe him as being 20-25 years old and 5'10" and 150 pounds. He has a tattoo on his left hand.

Detectives dread body dumps because the body is removed from whatever evidence there might be at the scene of a crime. Give the killers a few hours or days head start, and the odds of solving the case grow long indeed.

Anyone with information about the case is urged to contact the sheriff's office homicide unit at 713-967-5810 or Crime Stoppers at 713 222-TIPS (8477).

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