Woman's body found inside UES jewelry boutique

(Upper East Side-WABC, Nov. 9, 2007) (WABC) -- A missing woman was discovered fatally stabbed inside an Upper East Side boutique, prompting a murder investigation on a tiny Manhattan block.

At noon police were still investigating the murder of 52-year-old Sandra Rodriguez. She worked at the jewelry boutique. When she did not return home from work, her worried family called police.

Eyewitness News is told the grisly find was made by police after they received word from Rodriguez's family just before 4:00 a.m. When they arrived to the Michael Dawkins store at 33 East 65th Street, inside they discovered her body, stabbed in the torso.

Police labeled Rodriguez's death a homicide and closed the block this morning searching for clues.

Meanwhile, investigators continue to search for clues, ask neighbors and look at surveillance tape in hopes of finding out who murdered Rodriguez.

More Information on the Boutique

Dawkins, a jewelry designer and antique collector, sells his specialty jewelry out of the store that bears his name. Also in the store are antique home furnishings and mirrors

The location was described by realtor Prudential Douglas Elliman as "a coveted retail location situated just a stone's throw from Madison Avenue's Golden Mile."

The store previously served as the setting for the Oh Cult voodoo shop, visited by James Bond in the 1973 movie "Live and Let Die."

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