True Crime with Kendall Rae - Justice for Zoe Campos – Confession Leads to Conviction 9 Years Later

Episode Date: November 15, 2022

In 2013, 18-year-old Zoe Campos went to a small gathering to meet a friend’s new baby. Not long after that, she would go missing without much of a trace. After her car was spotted driving around town with an unknown man at the wheel, things began looking very weird. Shop my charity merch! https://milehighermerch.com/  All profits from this charity merch will be donated to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children: https://www.missingkids.org/ This episode is sponsored by: MasterClass Everlywell Check out Kendall's other podcasts: The Sesh & Mile Higher Follow Kendall! YouTube Twitter Instagram Facebook Mile Higher Zoo REQUESTS: General case suggestion form: https://bit.ly/32kwPly Form for people directly related/ close to the victim: https://bit.ly/3KqMZLj Discord: https://discord.com/invite/an4stY9BCN CONTACT: For Business Inquiries - [e-mail]

A journal is a journey, a place to gather thoughts, and become the best version of you. Papier creates thoughtfully crafted notebooks, journals, and more. They're curated journals cover themes like wellness, goals, and gratitude. Best of all, you can personalize each product for free. Put pen to paper and start your journey today with Papier. Visit papier.com for 10% off your first order. That's 10% off at papir.com. Hi guys, welcome back to my channel.

I'm so happy to have you here with me today if you are new then welcome. So today we are going to be talking about a case that recently wrapped up in trial in August of this year. And I really don't think it got enough coverage. So I really wanted to discuss it today. We are going to be talking about Zoe Compos, who is 18 years old when she was reported missing

at first in Texas in 2013. However, this case has since been solved and justice has been served. But before we get into that, I wanted to take a moment to remind you guys about the fundraiser I'm currently hosting for National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. We have recently raised over $50,000

and we are very close actually to our next milestone, which is 60,000. So I wanted to tell you about two ways that you can contribute if you haven't already. And if you have, thank you so much. This has been one of the most successful fundraisers that I've done and I'm really, really proud of what we have created and the impact

that we are going to have on NeckMek. It's such a wonderful organization and they are super, super grateful to you all for the support. You can really feel good about donating to NeckMeg because they put every dollar to incredibly good use and I know that they're gonna be using our donations so far to do very incredible and impactful work.

So two ways that you can contribute. We currently have merch available on my website that's mile hire merch.com. This is our NeckMeg collection. We love how it turned out. And I am contemplating the idea of turning it into children's merch, which I've never done before. So let me know if you would be interested in that. Okay, let's go ahead and get into the details of this case. So Zoe Gabrielle Compos was born on September 4th, 1995 in Lubbock, Texas. She was the youngest daughter to her parents Melinda and Alhondro,

and she had one older sister named Savannah. So her father was in the Marines and because of that, Zoe and her family moved around a lot. They left Lubbock for a few years and they lived in a bunch of other places, including Honolulu, San Diego, and Round Rock, Texas. But eventually, they ended up settling back in Lubbock, and at the time, her parents actually got a divorce. Growing up, Zoe had a lot of passion for life in general, but she especially had a huge

passion for animals. Zoe's mom said that she was always bringing home strays, and that she just had this huge heart, wanted to help all the animals, and she especially loved cats, dogs, and turtles. And Zoe also had a big heart when it came to her family. They meant the absolute world to her. She was incredibly close with her mom from a young age. Her mom said people would always joke about how they still needed to cut the imbilical cord because they were that close.

She was an incredible daughter, sister, and friend, and she really loved to make people laugh. Her family described her selfless, funny, kind of clumsy, protective, and warm. And she was also very close with her grandma, who she actually called grandma candy because when their family was living in Honolulu, her grandma would send her like care packages in the mail, and she always loaded it up with candy. And as Zoe grew older, she became a bit of a foodie. She loved to cook. Her specialty was jambalaya and their family loved to go to restaurants, and she just always enjoyed, you know, having good meals with good people. She loved all types of food. Some of her favorite was Chinese, and what's really funny is her family said one of her favorite

restaurants was actually hooters. And Zoe was actually really interested in mechanics and spent time working on cars. In fact, shortly before her disappearance, she began working on an old car that she was hoping to fix up herself. And she even told her mom that she wanted to become a mechanic one day. So animals, food, and mechanics, those were some of her biggest passions in life. And her mom said if she could open a pet store next to a mechanic shop, she absolutely would have. So like I said, she was extremely close with her family. She had a great relationship with her sister Savannah, and they spent a lot of time together, and Savannah had two children, and she just loved being an aunt. She especially loved to take her nephew fishing at a lake that was near their home. And for being only 18 years old, Zoe was very mature and extremely responsible.

She never partied or stayed out late and if she did go out, it was always, you know, with a smaller group of friends. She really enjoyed a more intimate setting. And Zoe, by all accounts, was on a great path in life and had a very bright future ahead of her. She was not going to pin you in her, but Zoe was also just a laid back person. She aimed herself. Yeah, she hung out just here in the house.

She left being around her sister and her niece and nephew. She also loved being around me, but she wasn't the type of person that would go out to parties, or clubs, or anything like that. If she did go to a party, it was with a friend and that was very rare. It totally went out. She was always keeping out with her there. They were in circumcised. And they are. But tragically, all of that was taken from her on November 17, 2013. She spent most of the day with her family and then later that night she was going to go over to her friend April's house Who had just had a baby and she invited just a couple of friends over a very small gathering to meet the new baby

Definitely not a party by any means it was a casual hangout and of course everyone there new April But not everyone there knew each other but it was a pretty Normal evening everyone got along and April said that Zoe left around nine o'clock because she had plans to go to dinner that night with her sister, Savannah. They were going out to dinner with her kids and another friend. A journal is a journey, a place to gather thoughts,

and become the best version of you. Papier creates thoughtfully crafted notebooks, journals, and more. They're curated journals cover themes like wellness, goals, and gratitude. Best of all, you can personalize each product for free. Put pen to paper and start your journey today with Papier. Visit Papier.com for 10% off your first order. That's 10% off at papir.com. Mornings are coming on strong with dark and bold

from community coffee. Mm. I feel like busta loose, ah, busta loose, come on. Get, get, get, get, get, get, get on up, get, get, oh yeah. Get, get, get, get, get, get, get on up. Get, get, get, get on up, ah, busta loose when you're born or sick. And Savannah said that Zoe was her usual happy go lucky self during dinner and then afterwards they decided to go pick up a movie at one of those old red box machines and watch it together

when they got home. And Zoe was planning on sleeping at Savannah's house that night. And if you reports have said that that was because she planned to watch her niece and nephew the following day while her sister was at work. And like I mentioned before, Zoe was very close with her niece and nephew, and she loved them as if they were her own kids. So Savannah said the movie wrapped up around 1130, and during the movie, Zoe was kind of falling asleep, and they decided to call it a night. So Savannah went to bed, and she figured Zoe was just going to sleep out on the couch. So she goes into her room by herself, and she has no idea that the next morning her sister would be gone.

Zoe ended up leaving the house later that night after her sister went to bed, which was kind of out of character for her. She normally didn't do things like that, but we know that Zoe left that night because her mother received a text message from her between 2.30 and 2.39 a.m. Melinda was working at a bar that closed her on this time and she was pleasantly surprised when she got this text from Zoe asking if she wanted to ride home because Melinda's car had been in the shop that day so getting a ride home from her daughter was going to be, you know, super helpful. But after 239 a.m., all communication with Zoe stopped and her mom waited for her to come

pick her up and she never showed up which which at first, Melinda wasn't too concerned about. She did try to call Zoe and Zoe didn't answer, but she thought, you know, it was really late at this point. Maybe she had just accidentally fallen asleep. So she ends up just walking to a friend's house that was pretty close to the bar and stayed the night there. And her plan was to just go home the next morning. Text that I received from her was around 2.30, 2.30, 2.30, 2.30, 2.30, 2.30, 2.30, 2.30, 9. Saying she was on her way to pick me up. And I said, okay, and I waited for about 30 minutes, called her phone, rang and rang

and rang and rang and rang and then it went to her voice mail. I hung up and called it right back and it went to voicemail directly. And since then, I want to say probably about three in the morning we haven't had any, we haven't been able to get through on her phone. And again, she didn't really think much of it when Zoe didn't come pick her up, but all that changed the next morning, November 18th. That morning, Savannah, her sister wakes up and starts getting ready for work. It's a normal day for her, and she realizes that Zoe's not there. She's not in her room.

She's not in the couch. And at first, she also didn't panic. She gave her sister a call. She didn't answer, but her car was gone, so she thought maybe she had driven home during the night or maybe even in the early morning. So after she tries to call her a couple times and the phone keeps going to voicemail, she ends up reaching out to her mother and realizes that her mom also hasn't been able to get a hold of her and that she never showed up to pick her up last night. And that's when the panic starts to set in and they start calling local hospitals, trying to see if maybe she got in accident, they continue trying to reach her and have no luck. But after hours of no contact and no information about where she could possibly be, they

end up calling the police at around 5 p.m. and tried to report her missing. And we see this a lot with missing persons cases, but the police did not file a missing persons report. And they didn't want to start an investigation until 24 hours after her disappearance. The authorities would not accept her as missing and file a report into the following day at 7.13 pm on November 19, 2013. Luckily though, police did put out an APB on her Lincoln Town car on the 18th. And the police also tried to contact her cell phone provider to see if they could access her current location, but they were unsuccessful after learning that her phone was either off or the battery had been removed.

But then the craziest and one of the luckiest things I've heard in a case happened, and her aunt just happens to see her car out driving around. Her aunt Monica was just driving through town on November 20th when she spotted Zoe's grey Lincoln town car driving in the area of university in 62nd street so she immediately follows the car and is able to get a visual on the driver. But it's hard for her to make any identification on this person because the windows are tinted and the cars in motion at the time so she's able to determine that this is a male wearing a hoodie with a darker complexion and she also said that she thought that this person was around 20 years old.

So as she's following the car, she's thinking all types of stuff is Zoe. In the car did the person who has the car do something to her, you know, obviously her mind's going wild and she's just focused on staying with the car. And she calls her son as she's following him, but eventually the driver figures out that she is there. So obviously he starts trying to lose her,

and eventually she does lose sight of the car after it made an abrupt turn southbound, but she continued to drive around looking for it. And eventually her and her son actually did find the car, but it was abandoned at the Driftwood Apartments where Zoe lived. So Monica immediately calls the police, and they took over an hour to get to the scene.

Now, both thankfully and unfortunately, Zoe was not in the vehicle, which means she was still missing. However, they did find a couple of things in the car. They found a phone charger, a black jacket that she was wearing, a male sweatshirt and some duct tape. So they took the clothing in as evidence

and they dusted the vehicle first fingerprints. And because Zoe's dad was an active member of the Marines, a Naval Criminal Investigative Service or the NCIS actually took part in helping with the investigation. They ended up taking Zoe's jacket and conducted forensic testing, hoping that they could find traces of anything

that would lead them to Zoe. Whether you're doing a dance to your favorite artist in the office parking lot, or being guided into Warrior I in the break room before your shift, whether you're running on your Peloton tread at your mom's house while she watches the baby, or counting your breaths on the subway. is the baby. Or counting your breaths on the subway. You are inhaling and long exhale. Peloton is for all of us. Wherever we are, whenever we need it, download the free Peloton app today. Peloton app available through free tier, or page description starting at 12.99

per month. A blank page holds infinite possibilities. POP-E-A creates thoughtfully designed stationary journals, notebooks, and more. Each page is as special as the ideas you put in them. Best of all, their products can be personalized for free to be uniquely yours or an unforgettable gift. Make each day noteworthy with POP-E-A. Visit POP-E-A.com for 10% off your first order. That's 10% off at P papier.com for 10% off your first order.

That's 10% off at papir.com. So obviously they need to figure out where Zoe was the night before. And if anyone had seen her from 1130 to 230 and although they couldn't trace her current location, they were able to see where she had been the night before based on her Self-On records. They were able to ping her final text messages and figure out an approximate location and that actually showed that she was in a One-mile radius of Lowry field which was a local football field that didn't have the best

Reputation. The area in and around Lowry Field was typically known for its drug and sex work activity. But this was really surprising to her friends and family and they said that she definitely didn't take hard drugs and she had no connection whatsoever to sex work. So they were extremely worried when they found out that this was her final location. Investigators also figured out that the last call that she made was to a man named Ben. And what's strange about this is this man was actually someone her mother used to date. So why would she be contacting her mother's ex? So that is definitely strange, but investigators brought him in, gave him a polygraph test, and he passed that, and they said they had no other reason to pursue him further. The next person that the police had in mind was Zoe's ex-boyfriend Joe and obviously ex-boyfriends are looked into when someone goes missing in a lot of cases.

She and Joe had dated for two and a half years, so they interviewed him and he was also ruled out. Next, they looked into a guy named Jacob, who Zoe had also dated, and I guess Jacob was kind of the bad boy type that Zoe normally didn't date. Her family wasn't super into. And turns out he cheated on her and the two of them fought constantly. And he even admitted to the police that Zoe and him had been in contact recently and weren't getting along. However, he had a rock solid alibi for that night, so they ruled him out as well.

So investigators ended up trying to speak to everyone who was at April's house that day, and they were hoping, you know, someone had seen something weird or heard, so he'd say something, maybe someone could speak to how she was acting or how her temperament seemed. So a man named Carlos Rodriguez was one of the people who was at this gathering that day. So they first interviewed Carlos on November 25th and he tells police that he and Zoe didn't know each other before they went to this little gathering at April's house and that they briefly spoke to each other while they were there. He also said that he and Zoe left around the same time but he didn't have much more

to provide them with other than that. But something about his story just wasn't quite right to investigators. So they brought him back in for an additional interview on December 9th. And during this interview, investigators received a sworn statement from Carlos that was very different from his first. And this time, Carlos admits that he had lied to them before and that him and Zoe did connect via Facebook after they left April's and that the two of them had exchanged a few messages. He said that the two of them

chatted about meeting up at his house that night to smoke a little weed. But again, he denied any involvement with her disappearance. He said that she actually did come over, that they were going to smoke a little weed. But again, he denied any involvement with her disappearance. He said that she actually did come over, that they were going to smoke weed, but neither of them had any. So she left to find some and never returned. And that was it, that's all he knew.

Now, Carlos said his reasoning for lying the first time that he talked to police was because of the weed. He didn't wanna get in trouble. But even though he denied having any involvement in her disappearance, Carlos quickly became the number one suspect in the case. I mean, with the way he lied to investigators the first time, it gave them plenty of reason to believe

that maybe he was lying about more. And it turns out his house was within a one-mile radius of La Rie field. We miss her. We miss her very much. And we love her. We want her here. We want her back in our life.

We want to see her. Her name's Ana here constantly asking for her. We're Zoe. Chaco sees Zoe. So we need her back home. So in 2014, there were hundreds of tips coming in about Zoe. And her family actually hired their own

Investigator to follow up on any leads that they had come across one tip that came in from this woman in her husband Said that they had seen Zoe outside of the villa motel on the night of November 17th and this motel is within a one mile radius of Lauri field and it was Infamously known for being surrounded by drug dealers and sex work. So when the news got out that Zoe was possibly seen at that hotel, there was an ongoing rumor that she had been sold into human trafficking. And it seemed so likely that her family even began believing this theory there are interviews of her mother talking about how that's what she thought happened. They thought maybe Zoe went met up with this boy, left to find weed and found herself

in a horrible situation at or near this motel, but investigators still felt strongly that Carlos knew more than he was saying or could have been involved. So eventually they get a search warrant and they go search his house, which turns out he's no longer living at this property anymore, which made it way easier.

And it turns out the dogs did find traces of Zoi the entire house and in th search of the property h to any evidence, but they not giving up in 2015 and physical searches. Their really came together to compost family. It h does cause her picture a

it's going to show someone and finally say, okay, yo know something. And as t community and the entire f on to hope that Zoe w said they found their stre community and they even for her on November 16th 2016 which marked three years since

you first went missing and they still didn't have answers at this point which was just so hard on them. Imagine not being able to see your your kid. Not being able to hear their voice. Not being able to see their smile. And during this time the investigators are still looking into Carlos. And he is brought in a few times for questioning over the years. And no surprise, as he continues to come in, his story continues to change. I mean, at first, he says that he didn't even see her after they get together that they just went separate ways. And he changes his story, saying that they were together that night. And he talks about them getting together to smoke weed. But

then he also says they don't have any weed at all. But when forensic testing showed that Zoe's DNA was on Carlos' jacket from that night, he had to stick to the story that she had been to his house that night. So in an interview on December 5th, 2017, Carlos admitted that Zoe was in his room for a period of time that night. This interview was conducted in the Lubbock County detention center where Carlos was serving a four-year sentence for stalking and threatening an ex-girlfriend of his. Rodriguez no stranger to the law. Most recently he was arrested for stalking charges against a former girlfriend. According to a straining order application filed in Lubbock County, that former girlfriend

said Rodriguez threatened her multiple times with violence. And at this point, investigators felt certain that there was more to his story, but they needed to get something more concrete before they were able to get another warrant. Then another inmate who's also serving time with Carlos at the Lubbock County detention center says that he talked to Carlos and he told him how, you know, the police are searching his house, but that they wouldn't find anything until they, quote, move the concrete. The statement was further supported by a confidential informant who on July 31, 2018 contacted detectives to let them know that Carlos told him where her body was hidden. That person was then interviewed on November 6th and he told them specific details of where

they could find Zoe's body. And that was enough for investigators to get another search warrant. And the same team of cadaver dogs that searched the property back in 2014 searched it again now in November of 2018. The dogs ended up alerting to an area in the backyard and investigators are digging and that's when they found a set of bones. So obviously they send the bones in for testing, but before they determine who's they are or what they are, I mean they're not even sure at this point that their human remains, they

bring in Carlos. They want to talk to him again. They start the interview with Carlos and as soon as they mentioned the bones, he ends the interview and he says he wants a lawyer present to discuss anything with them further. The results from the lab actually came back really quickly and they found out that these were not Zoe's bones. They were actually just animal bones but they decided not to tell Carlos that because the way he acted after they told him about the bones made them feel like they were getting really close to figuring out what happened to Zoe. So in the following days, investigators are keeping a close eye on Carlos and they are monitoring everyone that he is communicating with outside of the detention center.

And after, you know, listening in on some of his conversations, they realize that Carlos really thinks that they have found Zoe's remains. It's very obvious, by the way, he is talking, even though little does, you know, these are just animal bones. So they really felt like he knew that she was back there somewhere, that they just hadn't figured out exactly where. So on November 14th, they used ground penetrating radar to determine where else they should dig. But two days later, before they even start searching, Carlos requests to speak to the lead detective. And during this meeting, Carlos completely waved his Miranda rights and gave a full confession. He ends up telling them that that night when Zoe and him

were hanging out, they decided to smoke some K2, which if you don't know what that is, it's a human-made synthetic version of THC that can be highly psychoactive. Carlos claims that after smoking this synthetic weed, he basically freaked out. He started hallucinating and he struck Zoe really hard. Barraka said he was smoking synthetic marijuana when he lost control and struck Zoe in the face. He then says he put Zoe in a choke hold and strangled her.

He told investigators he buried her in his backyard that night. He then moved her body several months later into a deeper grave. So after telling investigators this, they take him over to the residence and he points out where her remains are. Just after 10 p.m. on November 16th, 2018,

Zoe's decomposed remains are found and Carlos was arrested and finally charged with her murder. Yeah, the medical examiner is testing the bones to get a positive DNA match right now. Investigators believe the body is 18 year old Zoe Compos.

Now in that arrest warrant, it states that Carlos Rodriguez confessed to killing Zoe Compos at this house in the early morning hours of November 18, 2013. And then they sent Zoe's remains to the medical examiner's office for a final identification. to killing Zoe Compos at this house in the early morning hours of November 18th 2013. And then they sent Zoe's remains to the medical

examiner's office for a final identification. And because it had been so long and how decomposed her body was, they had to use forensic dental records to confirm that the remains actually did belong to her.

In sitting down with them a few minutes ago and having to tell them that was Zoe, that was her body. I hope it was a degree of relief. I think it was, if for no other reason, then her body. I hope it was a degree of relief. I think it was, if for no other reason,

then just finally knowing that she's not out lost, she's not out suffering. And so if anything, at least that part of this tragedy, he is now behind them. Now, despite giving a full confession, Carlos ends up making an initial plea in court that he is not guilty. But after entering this plea,

he released a letter intended for the media that really reiterated his confession and outlined his guilt. In this letter, Carlos stated that the burden of keeping the secret was just weighing on him that he felt very guilty about what he had done and he wanted to come forward. The letter stated that he and Zoe had met that night at April's house for the first time.

He claims they were kind of flirty with each other and that there was mutual attraction. He ends up messaging her later that night on Facebook and the two of them agreed to meet at his house where they planned to smoke weed. And I just wanted to read a section of this letter. So he says she kept saying things and I could hear her laughing. section of this letter. So he says she kept saying things and I could hear her laughing, but my mind was somewhere else. When I turned to face her, her face looked different. She looked very weird in an evil way

and I started to panic, but I couldn't move. I wanted to tell her, but I didn't want to sound weak or embarrassed. So I started to sweat a lot and I could feel my heart pounding so hard in my chest that I couldn't speak or swallow because of this huge knot in my throat. Zoe kept grinning and asking me if I was okay, but I was certain I was dying. That's when I started to get lightheaded and my vision started to black out.

Then Zoe said, you're fucking tripping. And when she opened her mouth to laugh, her face started to melt and that's when I struck her. She got up and I heard a demonic scream. I remember her running to the door so I grabbed what appeared to be a demon from behind in a rear naked choke. I don't know how long I was choking her gut. When I let go, I started to realize what had happened and my whole world started to crumble. Carlos went on to say that he has had to live with the guilt of what he did to Zoe for the last five years, and he's adamant

though he is not a murderer. He claimed that he would have never done such a thing to her in his right mind, and it was the drugs that made him kill her. In his letter he also apologized to the compost family. He said, to family of Zoe compost, I'm so sorry for the pain, hurt, and suffering I caused. You have every right to be upset with me and consider me a worthless enemy who destroyed your lives by taking a life dear to you. Just remember don't seek revenge, seek justice, and don't hate your enemies. Love them and forgive them. In my opinion it's incredibly inappropriate and strange for him to be telling them how they should feel or how to think of their enemies or whatever he was saying. And the anger that her family must have felt, finding out what happened

to her must have just been, I just can't even imagine. Carlos also admitted that he was the one driving the car when her Aunt Monica saw him and he also said that he ended up having to move Zoe's body from where he originally put her because his dog started to dig her up. And despite this full written confession, Carlos maintained his not guilty plea and he and his lawyers prepared for trial. And his team actually tried to get the original confession thrown out saying that he had been coerced into making it without a lawyer present.

But a judge ultimately ruled that both the verbal and written confession were obtained legally and therefore they could use it in trial. A Lubbock judge will not be throwing out the 2018 confession of Carlos Rodriguez in the murder of 18-year-old Zoe Composna. This is according to the Lubbock County District Attorney. The defense team for Rodriguez attempted to get his confession thrown out in a Lubbock courtroom on Thursday. They argued the confession

was obtained by investigators when his attorney was not present. So this year Monday, August 15th, 2022 Carlos changed his plea from not guilty to an open plea, meaning that he didn't reach a deal with prosecutors, but would be taking his chances

in court. He faced a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum sentence of life in prison. Matt and Terry, they're asking for the jury for a life sentence saying Rodriguez had no reason or motive just the opportunity. In court today, Zoe's family took the stand telling

members of the jury about their beloved Zoe and why in no way she deserved what brutally happened to her and things moved quickly with this trial. After a very short deliberation, the jury came back with their decision on August 18th in Carlos Rodriguez was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Zoe Campos. Zoe's family is still so devastated and always will be about the loss of their beautiful

daughter. But they do feel peace knowing that they can finally put her to rest and that justice has been served. This is just such a sad case. I mean, just completely unnecessary. And what's so frustrating at the end of the day, we don't even know what really happened to Zoe. I mean, we know what Carlos told everyone happened, but there could be details that are left out and what he actually did to her, only he will ever truly know. I think Carlos absolutely deserves life in prison,

and I am happy that Justice has been served for this family and that they can start to heal from here. That is gonna be it for me today, guys. Thank you for joining me for another episode. And make sure you follow the show on Spotify and Apple Podcast. It really does help me out. If you want to watch the video version of this show, you can find it on my YouTube channel, which will be linked, or you can just search Kendal Ray.

I will be back with another episode soon, but until then, stay safe out there. stay safe out there.