Isabel was last seen in Miami, Florida on November 13, 2001. She dropped her two children off at school, and vanished afterwards. She was in the process of a divorce from her husband, Jesus Natividad Rodriguez, a Cuban-born farmer and trucking entrepreneur. On October 29 of that year, she requested a restraining order against Jesus, stating he had threatened to kill her if she got any money from him in the divorce settlement. A hearing about the restraining order was scheduled for the following month, but Isabel had disappeared by then. She has never been heard from again.

A photograph of Jesus is posted below this case summary. Witnesses stated they saw him hiding near Isabel's home the day she disappeared, and cellular phone records also placed him at her house. Jesus was eventually charged with Isabel's murder. Investigators believe he killed his wife at her home and disposed of her remains on his ranch on the edge of the Everglades. Extensive searches of the ranch turned up a dead cow and a dead goat, but no sign of Isabel. Jesus had spread ten truckloads of dirt and gravel over the property before the searches commenced, making it hard to find any evidence that may have been there. He told everyone he was performing a Santeria ritual. Jesus also spray-washed his Lincoln Continental.

The first trial, in 2004, was declared a mistrial due to allegations of witness tampering. The second trial was in 2005, and it too was declared a mistrial after Jesus allegedly tried to hire someone to kill his prosecutor. Jesus was tried for a third time in 2007, six years after Isabel disappeared. His attorneys said there was no proof she was dead, and suggested she had simply returned to Honduras. Several of Jesus's fellow inmates in jail testified he confessed his wife's murder to them, and Jesus himself referred to Isabel as "worse than the devil" when he testified in his own defense. His girlfriend stated he had scratches on his chest and back after Isabel's disappearance. Jesus was convicted of murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated stalking and burglary in November 2007. He faces a sentence of up to life in prison.

Isabel's remains have never been found, but foul play is suspected in her case due to the circumstances involved.

Above: Jesus Rodriguez, circa 2005