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'I've been waiting for this day for 24 years': Mother of murdered Burley teen 'so happy' to see arrest in cold case

The Cassia County Sheriff's Office arrested Gilberto Flores Rodriguez in connection with the 1995 murder of 14-year-old Regina Krieger.

MINIDOKA COUNTY, Idaho — It has been almost 24 years to the day since the body of 14-year-old Regina Krieger was found in the Snake River in Burley.

On Wednesday, Cassia County Sheriff Jay Heward confirmed police arrested Gilberto Flores Rodriguez, 56, of Burley.

He was taken into custody in Minidoka County and charged with first-degree murder in the girl's death.

Credit: Cassia County Sheriff's Office
Gilberto Flores Rodriguez

Regina disappeared in February 1995, just days before her 15th birthday.

“It’s very vivid in my mind and always will be there that day I got a phone call from my son. 1995 – February 27th – about his sister being gone,” said the girl's mom, Rhonda Hunnel.  

“My ex-husband woke up, checked on her to get ready for school, and she was gone and all there was, was a bloody trail leading up the stairs from the basement,” she said.

Hunnel said they put up missing persons posters and waited for word about her daughter. Then in April 1995, the week of Easter, Regina's body surfaced in the Snake River.

The body was so badly decomposed that police couldn't even identify its gender, so Hunnel provided dental records that confirmed that it was her daughter.

“The absence of a child whether deceased or just not found and you just don’t know it, is a struggle either way,” Hunnel said.

Finding Regina's body didn't give her any sense of peace. 

“Over the years I’ve heard the word closure so many times but you know, closure has always been the wrong word," Hunnel said. "Closure would be to have her back, which we know that’s not gonna happen because forever I’ll have a hole in my heart that will always be there.

"It’s not natural or normal for a child to go before a parent, especially when they were murdered and her life was just taken away," she continued.

Hunnel said for the first five years or so after Regina's death, she struggled and distanced herself from family and friends. After not getting any answers about her daughter's murder for so long, she finally decided to leave Idaho for a time.

She said she came back to Idaho in 2003 and began reaching out to every person she thought could her solve her daughter's case. 

But it wasn't until December 2017 that she caught a break.

“An FBI agent contacted me and he wanted to help out on the case,” Hunnel said.

She worked with the FBI and also with Cassia County detectives and eventually, they were able to build a case and arrest Rodriguez.

"I'm just so happy to hear this," Hunnel told KTVB.“As Regina’s mom, I’ve been waiting for this day for 24 years and how I feel right now is just so enlightening and so excited and so thrilled for having to chase this case as many years as I have.”

Rodriguez was mentioned as a suspect in the case fairly early on in the investigation but he was never charged. 

Hunnel said Rodriguez was a known drug dealer. She said her daughter was involved with drugs at the time and believes that could be her connection to Rodriguez.

That's one of many details she believes will come out in court as Rodriguez works his way through the justice system.

When that time comes, Hunnel hopes justice will prevail. 

This arrest means she hopefully doesn't have to relive the day her daughter disappeared over and over. 

“It’s a whole new story for me now," she said. “I don’t have to go back anymore. Today is a great day and I think I can move on is what I can do.”

Rodriguez has a criminal history, including DUIs, reckless driving, disorderly conduct, and drug charges. He is currently being held without bond in the Mini-Cassia Criminal Justice Center.

In a statement, the sheriff's office said the arrest was part of a joint investigation between the Cassia County Sheriff's Office, the FBI and the Minidoka County Sheriff's Office. 

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