On February 23, 2005, 34-year-old Maria Antonia Rivero was shot and killed in Muscatine, Iowa. The shooting occurred during a confrontation with her estranged husband, Luis Alberto Gomez-Rodriguez, who had spent months searching for Rivero and another man, Julio Sarol, after Rivero and Sarol left Florida in mid-2004 amid a dispute over money from a remodeling business the couple had operated together.

Gomez-Rodriguez tracked leads, hiring private investigators and involving law enforcement before locating Rivero and Sarol in Muscatine. During the confrontation he shot both; Rivero, who was unarmed, was struck in the back while trying to flee. Gomez-Rodriguez was arrested, tried, and a jury convicted him of two counts of first-degree murder and interference with official acts; he received two life sentences. His subsequent appeal alleging ineffective counsel was denied and the convictions were upheld.

Was anyone in Florida or Iowa aware of Rivero and Sarol’s movements after they left mid-2004 and before the February 2005 confrontation?