Family questions investigation into disappearance of Dallas woman found stabbed to death

A North Texas mother is calling for answers after her daughter was found stabbed to death more than a week after going missing.

Investigators say 28-year-old Olivia Rodriguez was discovered in the apartment where she’d been living with a man who’s now charged with her murder.

Judy Garza remembers her daughter Olivia as the life of the party.

“The happy person, always making everybody laugh, everywhere she went, that girl made friends,” said Garza. “And that was the issue, everywhere she went, she made friends, she trusted everybody.”

Loved ones say that for more than a month, Rodriguez had been living with 34-year-old Teray Sam at his apartment on Forest Lane in Dallas.

On May 27, family members realized they hadn’t been able to get in contact with Rodriguez since May 24.

“No calls, no text messages, I knew something was wrong, but nobody would listen to me,” said Garza. “Had they listened to me, this could have been a whole different situation.”

Rodriguez’s mother said the family reported her missing to Dallas police, and that her cell phone’s location showed she was at Sam’s apartment.

Garza said after days of trying, on June 2, she arranged for Sam to let Dallas PD officers into his home for a wellness check.

From the hallway outside, Rodriguez’s mother said she could smell a decomposing body.

“I kept telling them, her body is in there,” said Garza. “He killed her, I know he killed her.”

An arrest affidavit said that when Sam let officers into his apartment, they discovered Rodriguez’s body on the living room floor.

Documents said she had been stabbed multiple times and had been dead for several days.

Sam was arrested and charged with murder.

Police said when questioned by detectives, he appeared to have a knife wound on his hand, and investigators found blood in his apartment sink and shower.

Loved ones told NBC 5 they believed officers should have entered the home sooner.

“Y’all failed her; had y’all listened to me, it could have been a different story,” said Garza. “We’ll never know now.”

Teray Sam is being held in the Dallas County Jail on a $1 million bond.

We asked Dallas police for a response to Rodriguez’s family’s concerns about how the investigation into her disappearance was handled. We’ll update this story as soon as we receive a response.