An elevator operator is being held without bail in connection with the death of a Manhattan cleaning woman, found stuffed in an air conditioning duct.

Police say Joseph Pabon, 25, was arraigned Saturday on second-degree murder charges.

Investigators say DNA evidence linked the Staten Island resident to the death of Eridania Rodriguez.

He had been questioned earlier in the investigation, but his lawyer had argued he went home sick before Rodriguez, pictured on right, arrived for work.

Her body was found last week in an air conditioning duct in the Rector Street office building where she worked. Rodriguez was last seen during her shift earlier that week.

Authorities say her hands and face were bound with tape. The medical examiner says Rodriguez died of asphyxiation.

Pabon will be back in court next week.