Watch: Police Investigating Death of Trans Woman Day Rodas, 27
Police are investigating the death of transgender woman Day Rodas, 27, whose body was discovered last week in the countryside around Malibu, California.
Adding to the tragedy, Rodas had begun living openly as a trans woman only a short time before her life was cut short, local news station Fox 11 reported.
"She recently started living her life authentically as she came out to friends and family about being a trans woman," the news channel quoted Rodas' younger sister as saying. The sister added that "after being afraid for 27 years, she only got to live freely without fear for only six months, which breaks our hearts."
Rodas' sister noted that she had been a "strong" advocate for LGBTQ+ equality.
Friend Nicolette Esquivel told the media, "You could feel that she was, like, really happy to finally be out of her shell and be who she really wanted to be," ABC 7 reported. "It was really nice to see her flourish."
Rodas worked at the Los Angeles LGBT Center. The Center's CEO, Joe Hollendoner, told the media that she was a "vital member of the Center, working within our Community Health Program, and she worked devotedly during her tenure to keep LGBTQ+ people educated, informed, and safe."
Esquivel took note of the strange circumstances surrounding Rodas' death. Her car was still in Los Angeles, though her phone "was found at another Malibu location," ABC 7 detailed.
"To go from downtown L.A., drive her all the way to the middle of nowhere Malibu, that does not sound right," Esquivel said.
"Rodas' sister said detectives told her family they are questioning three people, but the investigation remains ongoing," ABC 7 added.
No cause of death has yet been determined, but Rodas' loss was felt by those who knew her. Hollendoner said, "To have her life cut short in this moment — and under such troubling circumstances — makes her loss all the more heartbreaking."
"We cannot honor the life of Day Rodas without naming that violence against transgender people — particularly transgender women of color — is at an all-time high," Hollendoner added.
The Human Rights Campaign, which tracks incidents of lethal anti-trans violence, has documented cases of at least 34 transgender people who have died from violence so far in 2022. Two of those victims died Nov. 20 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, when an assailant clad in body armor and carrying an assault weapon entered a gay bar and opened fire, killing five and wounding dozens more.
2021 took an even higher toll, with at least 57 transgender and gender non-conforming people dying from violence, many of them trans women of color.
Watch the ABC 7 report below.