sometimes because she avoided z the camera. All rights reserved, Privacy Policy|Online Content Agreement, Seven years later, one detective remains on West Mesa killings, Albuquerque police release photos in West Mesa murders investigation. >> she searched for the innocent. and the women who work its. >> reporter: dan continued to cruise the war zone, willing himself to believe that his daughter was still out there. >> reporter: most of the new girls either never knew or barely remember the women whose places they've taken. a data plan for everyone. Despite the jewelry, underwear, and other evidence that appeared to connect him to the case including the testimony of a former cellmate who said that Blea claimed to have known and hired the West Mesa victims and called them "trashy" police have still been unable to conclusively tie him to the murders. it's the same instinct that drew her to police work years ago, when she was a kid, growing up in albuquerque. michelle had just turned 20. a milestone that was not lost on mother or child. 'd as one of the west mesa women victims -- one of the west mesa women." >> reporter: that felony assault charge against lorenzo montoya went nowhere because the victim later refused to testify. >> we're not the only family that got a call saying that their, you know, sister, daughter was murdered and buried out there. >> reporter: such was the mystery of the women on stal detective ida lopez's growing list of the lost. >> reporter: sticking up for victims comes naturally to ida lopez. >> so we were able to, communicate with each other anything that came up. a. with xfinity mobile you can bring in your own phone, switch wireless carriers and save hundreds of dollars. One of the victims, 22-year-old Michelle Valdez, had been pregnant when she was killed, and the bones of her unborn child were also found among the victims. and then she left it. Dateline is the long-running, award-winning news magazine bringing viewers stories ranging from compelling mysteries to powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. According to the Albuquerque Police Department, something didn't sit right with Christine Ross when her dog Ruca found a bone on their walk in the West Mesa. Then, Ruca found a bone resembling a femur. and she wanted to be able to provide them with some answers. i took her to a friend's house and dropped her off there. >> this particular individual made sure that he went back each and every time when he was going to dispose of a body and disposed of it in the same area where the other women were. Dirk Gibson has no faith that will change, because police lack the necessary incentive. women very often involved in prostitution, it's not uncommon for them to go missing for weeks or months at a time. it's where they needed somebody, and it worked out, you know, for me. use febreze every time you tidy up to keep your whole house smelling fresh air clean. >> yes, he was. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. stop dancing around the pain your home and auto that keeps you up again, and again. and then she says is there anything that we can do? >> yes. That threat and the circumstances of his death led police to suspect that Montoya had been the West Mesa Bone Collector. "They did an excellent job with our West Mesa murders," said Sgt. southwestern summer heat begins to ease hot air balloons rise like spring flowers over albuquerque and the surrounding desert. Since 2009, families of some victims have stressed publicly that the women and girls were loved. One bears a stick-figure angel and a message from a woman who says the victims watch over her. The last segment of last night's two-hour exploration of the West Mesa serial murders on NBC's Dateline reviewed the search warrants executed by the Albuquerque and Joplin police departments and the FBI of properties owned by Joplin businessman Ron Erwin. her face bore the kind of sores that suggested she'd been hitting the crack pipe.ug >> when did you notice things were going wrong? Last edited on 19 February 2023, at 14:32, List of fugitives from justice who disappeared, List of serial killers in the United States, "The West Mesa Murders: A Central American Connection? some of it didn't. >> were all the victims killed the same way? Meet Detective Ida Lopez, bringing justice to missing women & their families. >> thin, wired out, strung out maybe. there's a better choice. definitely. the news media had shown little interest in the story when desperate family members had come to them asking for help. start with supporting your gut health. Summary: Josh Mankiewicz puts the focus on the mysteries surrounding the West Mesa Murders, an unsolved case of 11 female bodies discovered in a desert graveyard near Albuquerque in 2009. >> no.n' not at all. and where was he now? Edwards was classified as an endangered runaway from Lawton, Oklahoma in 2003 and was last seen with three sex workers in Aurora, Colorado in May 2004. Paige Birgfeld: Missing Mother Living a Double Life Was Kidnapped & Murdered. Police had also received a report of domestic violence from Montoya's girlfriend, who claimed he beat her and did "gross things" to her that she didn't want to elaborate on in the report. By Vanessa R Martinez / NM News Port / It's now been ten years since the bodies of 11 women were found buried on the West Mesa of Albuquerque. protection. >> yes. In 2006 there were reportedly dirt trails leading from his trailer park to the site. >> i'm freeding. >> reporter: for detectives like todd babcock it all seemed to add up. cinnamon elks, missing since august of 2004. but even if those rumors were true and human remains were cooling in the desert night on albuquerque's west mesa, the detective knew, it would take a miracle to find them. It plans to tie them to fencing near the crime scene Saturday ahead of a gathering to mark the anniversary. The case has been covered by numerous crime and news programs in the United States, including: On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The unsolved case received a lot of attention after that. i said it's michelle valdez. [ chuckles ] i'm done with this class. California, 2010: Two actors, Rachel Buffett and Daniel Wozniak, are at the center of the investigation of two murders. she said, well, dad, i'm going to run. for ida lopez that's a mission statement. >> at one point syllania had been arrested up in the denver area for prostitution, going by a different name at the time. Who are the dominate males, and lesbians in their Tribe? she hunted the guilty. >> i don't believe so. The acting lieutenant of the Albuquerque Police Department's Violent Crime Division, Holly Anderson, told KOAT Action News in February 2021 that police are still working the case, despite not having any new evidence to go on in recent years. clustered within 20 yards of each other. babcock says he saw marks on the woman's throat and that she told him montoya looked like he was enjoying it. Although they have had several suspects, two of whom seemed to fit the description quite well, they have yet to find compelling evidence to close the case. as spring turned to summer that, year, dan, his ex-wife, and his daughters plastered flyers with michelle's picture all over central avenue asking anyone who'd seen her to call the albuquerque police department. hoping that hers had not. Police on Long Island, New York, have released the name of a previously unidentified victim linked to the notorious Gilgo Beach murders. i've been -- you know, i've been raped a number of times. it's fast itch relief. and it's safe for puppies. it was a time when a sinister force seemed to be snatching women off the streets of new mexico's largest city. Darlene Trujillo, who was last seen July 5, 2001, and included Sonia Lente, who disappeared on Oct. 3, 2002. [1] Wozniak and his then-fiance, Rachel Mae Buffett, lived in the same apartment complex as Herr in Costa Mesa, California. the money. >> so you were being a father all over again. Contact the Journal about the West Mesa murders at westmesa@abqjournal.com or 505-823-3860. >> i really thought he could be her killer. >> i'm still right down the middle of the fairway on this, right? i was so tired of it. and they'd go through the alley, do their tricks in the alley. >> reporter: this is what albuquerque police chief ray schultz says investigators saw. Or, died from other indirect causes, including assault, abuse, or homicide, prior to being funeralized; preped for burial? >> reporter: investigators had plenty of leads but none that had gotten them closer to answering two questions -- who was he? >> the reality is it was kind of like this is not happening. what if jane doe number 7 was just the first of many victims the grave digger brought to the, west mesa from somewhere else? >> i thought she was alive and well and doing good but just didn't want to have any contact with the family. you need to stop and smell the roses of savings. dan valdez, her father, had reported michelle missing six months before ida got the case.c he was the guy who kept the calendar. In May 2008, 13 yo Aarushi Talwar was found murdered in her own bedroom in Noida, India. >> reporter: six weeks after the digging began out on the west mesa, even more sets of remains were identified. [ soft piano music playing ] mm, uh, what do you do for fun? and it's almost frustrating because you look at this picture, and you see the disturbed earth which later we learned are grave sites, and you see the tire tracks. She was convinced he was the West Mesa killer. our daughters. daughter's comings and goings for years. "It's really a sad and horrible anniversary," said Christine Barber, executive director of Street Safe New Mexico, a nonprofit that seeks to boost safety for women who live and work on Albuquerque streets. >> it was breaking angelica's. there were whole bunches of them. woof because nothing should come between you and your furry friend especially not allergic itch! >> i thought this could be it, yeah. it's pretty much the easiest way to save since sliced bread. City of AlbuquerqueThe 11 victims whose remains were discovered at the West Mesa site in 2009. no. but at the time it was routine low priority policework. Many had gone into sex work or had run away from home years before they died. Replies analysing and speculating over the mystery and possible explanations are encouraged. but you know, you have to have faith in your law enforcement. >> and i had to tell dan. >> reporter: caught between the pressure to keep the public informed and the need to prevent key details from leaking out to cranks and copycats who routinely clogged tip lines, commander feist found himself scheduling sensitive excavation, work in the off hours, when he knew cameras would not be looking over his shoulder.