Florida man gets life for killing girl who vanished in 1999

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. – A Florida man has been sentenced to life in prison for killing a little girl who disappeared nearly 20 years ago.

News outlets report that 46-year-old Keith Wilson was sentenced Monday. He was convicted in October of second-degree murder.

Authorities say 4-year-old Pilar Rodriguez went missing in Punta Gorda in 1999. Wilson’s then-girlfriend, Melissa Harding-Jones, had been Pilar’s babysitter. The woman testified that Wilson punched the girl, who died several days later. Wilson took the girl’s body away in a garbage bag. It has never been found.

Harding-Jones previously pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact. She faces up to 30 years in prison.

After being considered a cold case, new information and new witnesses came to light in 2009.