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OFFICIALS: Missing Texas woman's boyfriend not responding to investigators

Lt. Joshua Tubb says Rosemary Rodriguez's boyfriend stopped responding to authorities shortly after she was reported missing.

GREGG COUNTY, Texas — Rosemary Rodriguez was reported missing on Oct. 8, 2019. She was last seen leaving her boyfriend's house in the Mt. Pisgah area, near Kilgore, on Monday, Oct. 7, around 6:45 p.m.

When the missing person’s report was filed, investigators reached out to Rodriguez's boyfriend and after brief communication, he stopped responding.

"We have not been able to speak with him and get the information that would help this case along to find Rosemary," said Gregg County Sheriff's Office Lt. Josh Tubb.

Lt. Tubb couldn’t tell CBS19 if authorities are exploring any new leads or have issued any arrest warrants.

On New Year's Eve, investigators pulled Rodriguez’s car from the woods just a few miles away from from where she went missing.

Investigators had to bring in equipment to cut the brush out of the way in order to pull the car out. The human remains in the car have not yet been confirmed as those of Rodriguez.

Rocky Stegman lives just across the street from where the car was found. 

He says he's driven past it at least 1,000 times in the past two years that the car has been missing. He said he couldn’t believe that it’s been sitting right there this whole time.

Lt. Tubb says deputies patrolled the area as recently as the night before someone reported Rodriguez’s car on their property.

“The easiest way to say it is every time we have one of our patrol cars on the road, we're looking not only for Rosemary's car, but any other person or missing person that we might can find. We're constantly on the job,” Lt. Tubb said.

Lt. Tubb also says the Longview Physical Evidence Team, the Texas Rangers and the Gregg County Sheriff’s Office’s entire staff are working this case.

“Everyone that's been involved with this is moving very slowly and methodically to make sure that there is no fragment that's left unturned and no fibers that we don't look at," Lt. Tubb.

With the breakthrough in finding the car, investigators say they're still in the preliminary stages of finding out what happened to Rosemary. They are urging the community to come forward if someone knows anything at all, no matter how insignificant it may seem.

Lt. Tubb says right now there is no timeline for how long it may take to identify the remains.

RELATED: OFFICIALS: Car last driven by missing Gregg County woman found with remains inside

RELATED: ‘Closure and healing’: Sisters hope for proper goodbye after missing mother’s car found near Kilgore

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