West Mesa murders

Last updated
West Mesa murders
Location Albuquerque to Rio Rancho, New Mexico, U.S.
Date2001–2005
TargetSex workers
Attack type
 Serial killing
Deaths11

The West Mesa Murders are the killings of eleven women whose remains were found buried in 2009 in the desert on the West Mesa of Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Several suspects have been named, but none were arrested or charged. While the killings were initially believed to be the work of a serial killer, the involvement of a sex trafficking ring has been suspected. [1] [2]

Contents

An anonymous tip to authorities at APD and FBI linked the murders to a suspect from Central America. [1] Police have also suspected the involvement of a sex trafficking ring operating through neighboring Texas that targets prostitutes during events throughout the Southwest, Southern, and Western United States, especially regularly scheduled events, such as the New Mexico state fair in this case, to take advantage of reliably heavier traffic. [3] [4] [5] [6] This small fragment of a human trafficking ring involves numerous population centers, including Las Vegas, El Paso, Killeen, and Denver. [2]

Background

Between 2001 and 2005, 11 women were buried by an unknown assailant in an arroyo bank on Albuquerque's West Mesa, in an undeveloped area within city limits. Satellite imagery taken between 2003 and 2005 shows tire marks and patches of disturbed soils in the area where the remains were recovered. By 2006, development had encroached on the area, and soon after, the site was disturbed, buried, and platted for residential development.

Due to the 2008 housing bubble collapse, development on the West Side halted before housing could be built at the burial site. After neighbors complained of flooding at the platted site (due to the burial of the natural arroyo), the developer built a retaining wall to channel storm water to a retention pond built in the approximate area of the burial site, inadvertently exposing bones to the surface. [7]

Discovery

On February 2, 2009, a woman walking a dog found a human bone on the West Mesa, and reported it to police. As a result of the subsequent police investigation, authorities discovered the remains of 11 women and girls [8] and a fetus buried in the area. They were between 15 and 32 years of age, most were Hispanic, and most were involved with drugs and sex work. [9]

Victims

The remains discovered in 2009 were identified as those of the following women and girls, all of whom disappeared between 2001 and 2005: [10] [11]

According to satellite photos, the last victim was buried in 2005.

Syllania Edwards, a 15-year-old runaway from Lawton, Oklahoma, was the only African American, and the only victim from out of state. [12] Michelle Valdez was four months pregnant at the time of her death. [13]

On December 9, 2010, Albuquerque police released six photos of seven other unidentified women who may also be linked to West Mesa. [9] [14] Police would not say how or where they had obtained the photos. [9] Some of the women appear to be unconscious, and many share the same physical characteristics as the original 11 victims. [9] The following day the police released an additional photograph of another woman; this woman was subsequently identified by family members, who reported that she had died of natural causes several years earlier. [15] [16] On December 13, 2010, police reported that two of the women in the photos had been identified as alive, and could have valuable information if they could be located. [17] In June 2018, more bones were found near the site of the burials, but these were later determined to be ancient and not related to the West Mesa murders.

Suspects

West Mesa Bone Collector
Criminal penaltyNever sentenced
Details
Victims11
Span of crimes
2001–2005
CountryUnited States
State(s) New Mexico
Date apprehended
Unapprehended

Police suspect that the bodies were all buried by the same person or persons, and may be the work of a serial killer, who has since come to be referred to as the West Mesa Bone Collector. [18] [19]

No official suspects have ever been named in connection with the murders. [9] In 2010, a reward of up to $100,000 was being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible. [11]

Over time, a number of men have attracted police attention, though not named as full suspects, in connection with the murders.

Fred Reynolds was a pimp who knew one of the missing women and reportedly had photos of missing sex workers; he died of natural causes in January 2009. [20]

Lorenzo Montoya lived less than three miles from the burial site. In 2006 there were reportedly dirt trails leading from his trailer park to the site. [19] He had twice been arrested for violent attacks on sex workers and had threatened to kill his girlfriend and bury her in lime. [4] Co-workers said he had talked about killing women and burying them on the West Mesa. [21] In December 2006, Montoya strangled a teenage sex worker to death at his trailer and then was shot to death by the teen's boyfriend. It would appear the killings stopped after his death. [19] [22] While searching Montoya's home detectives came across a compelling piece of evidence, a home recording found on Montoya's camera. Only part of the video has been released to the public. According to police, the first part of the video shows Montoya having sex with an unidentified and possibly dead woman before fading to black and transitioning to show the portion that has been released to the public. This portion shows a wall and bed in the foreground, during this section of the video you can hear what sounds like Montoya tearing duct tape from a roll and opening a garbage bag. It is also believed Montoya says "tranquilo" during this, the Spanish word for "quiet" or "calm down" It has been theorized this was Montoya preparing a body for disposal. The shortened version of the recording was published by the Albuquerque Journal's YouTube Channel in 2016. [23] Screen grabs of the unidentified woman have also been released in hope she can be identified.

In August 2010, police searched several properties in Joplin, Missouri associated with local photographer and businessman Ron Erwin in connection with the West Mesa cases. [9] [24] They confiscated "tens of thousands" of photos from the man, who reportedly used to visit the state fair in Albuquerque. [9] Police confirmed that they had cleared Erwin as a suspect. [25]

In December 2010, convicted Colorado serial killer Scott Lee Kimball stated that he was being investigated for the West Mesa murders, but he denied killing the women. [26]

In 2014, a breakthrough on a decades-old case caused Albuquerque police to become interested in Joseph Blea as a suspect for the murders. Blea has been dubbed the "Mid-School Rapist" for his activities in the 1980s; police say he would often break into the homes of 13- to 15-year-old girls who lived near McKinley Middle School in Albuquerque and rape them. In one case, there was a DNA sample but the rape test kit was not re-tested until 2010, eventually linking Blea to the rape. [27] In 2015, Blea was also suspected by police of killing a sex worker; his DNA sample was located on the inner waistband and belt of a sex worker found dead on Central Ave, a notorious street for sex work in the eastern part of the city. In addition, a tree tag from a nursery was found in the area where the West Mesa victims' bodies were buried; it was tracked to a nursery Blea once frequented. [21] [28] Blea had women's underwear and jewellery not belonging to his wife or daughter in his home and allegedly told a cellmate that he had hired the West Mesa victims, who he called "trashy". [4] Blea, in the Mid-School rape case, was sentenced to 36 years in June 2015, at 58 years of age.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Ridgway</span> American serial killer (born 1949)

Gary Leon Ridgway is an American serial killer known as the Green River Killer. He was initially convicted of 48 separate murders committed between the early 1980s and late 1990s. As part of his plea bargain, another conviction was added, bringing the total number of convictions to 49, making him the second most prolific serial killer in United States history according to confirmed murders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joel Rifkin</span> American serial killer (born 1959)

Joel David Rifkin is an American serial killer, who was sentenced to 203 years in prison for the murders of nine women between 1989 and 1993, though it is believed he killed as many as 17 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Hansen</span> American serial killer (1939–2014)

Robert Christian Boes Hansen, popularly known as the Butcher Baker, was an American serial killer active in Anchorage, Alaska, between 1972 and 1983. Hansen abducted, raped and murdered at least seventeen women, many of whom he may have hunted in the wilderness with a Ruger Mini-14 and a Hunting Knife. Hansen was captured in 1983 and sentenced to 461 years' imprisonment without the possibility of parole. He died in 2014 of natural causes at age 75.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ipswich serial murders</span> Series of murders during 2006

The Ipswich serial murders, commonly known as the work of the Suffolk Strangler, took place between 30 October and 10 December 2006, during which time the bodies of five murdered sex workers were discovered at different locations near Ipswich, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom. Their bodies were discovered naked but there were no signs of sexual assault. Two of the victims, Anneli Alderton and Paula Clennell, were confirmed to have been killed by asphyxiation. A cause of death for the other victims, Gemma Adams, Tania Nicol and Annette Nicholls, was not established.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Parker Ray</span> American kidnapper, serial rapist, torturer, and suspected serial killer

David Parker Ray, also known as the Toy-Box Killer, was an American kidnapper, torturer, serial rapist and suspected serial killer. Though no bodies were found, Ray was accused by his accomplices of killing several women, and was suspected by the police to have murdered as many as sixty women from Arizona and New Mexico while living in Elephant Butte, New Mexico. Ray was convicted of kidnapping and torture in 2001, for which he received a lengthy sentence, but he was never convicted of murder. He died of a heart attack about one year after his convictions in two cases, the second of which resulted in a plea deal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Conahan</span> American murderer, rapist, and suspected serial killer on death row

Daniel Owen Conahan Jr. is a convicted American murderer, rapist, and suspected serial killer. Conahan was convicted of one murder, but has been linked to a dozen murders, mostly of transients seeking employment and gay men in the Charlotte County, Florida area in what came to be known as the Hog Trail Murders. Conahan has also been named the prime suspect in the additional murders of eight men, collectively referred to as the Fort Myers Eight, who were discovered in a mass grave site in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grim Sleeper</span> American serial killer (1952–2020)

Lonnie David Franklin Jr., better known by the nickname Grim Sleeper, was an American serial killer who was responsible for at least ten murders and one attempted murder in Los Angeles, California from 1984 to 2007. He was also convicted for rape and sexual violence. Franklin earned his nickname when he appeared to have taken a 14-year break from his crimes, from 1988 to 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albuquerque Police Department</span> Municipal police in New Mexico, U.S.

The Albuquerque Police Department (APD) is the municipal law enforcement agency of Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is the largest police force in the state, with approximately 1,000 sworn officers in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Floyd Thomas Jr.</span> Convicted American serial killer

John Floyd Thomas Jr. is an American serial killer, serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the murders of seven women in the Los Angeles area during the 1970s and 1980s. Police suspect Thomas committed 10 to 15 more murders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rodney Alcala</span> American serial killer (1943–2021)

Rodney James Alcala was an American serial killer and sex offender who was sentenced to death in California for five murders committed between 1977 and 1979, receiving an additional sentence of 25 years to life after pleading guilty to two further homicides committed in New York State in 1971 and 1977. While he has been conclusively linked to eight murders, Alcala's true number of victims remains unknown and could be much higher – authorities believe the actual number is as high as 130.

The Bradford murders were the serial killings of three women in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England in 2009 and 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gilgo Beach serial killings</span> American serial killer case

The Gilgo Beach serial killings were a series of killings between 1996 and 2011 in which the remains of 11 people were found in Gilgo Beach, located on the South Shore of Long Island, New York, United States. Most of the known victims were sex workers who advertised on Craigslist. The perpetrator in the case is known as the Gilgo Beach Serial Killer.

James Matthew Boyd was an American man who was fatally shot by Albuquerque Police Department officers Keith Sandy and Dominique Perez in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains in Albuquerque, New Mexico on the evening of March 16, 2014. A resident of a nearby subdivision called police at 3:28 p.m. to report that a man had been camping on the mountain behind his house for the previous month, a violation of local regulations. Two Open Space officers were the first to respond. They approached Boyd as he lay under a sheet of plastic; Boyd, mentally ill with a diagnosis of schizo-affective disorder, became irate, wanting to know why the "raid" was occurring. When an officer tried to pat him down, he produced two pocket knives, threatening the officers with them. The caller watched the confrontation from his second-story window and later testified that Boyd threatened the officers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Dale Ritchie</span> American serial killer

James Dale Ritchie was an American serial killer. Throughout 2016, Ritchie murdered upwards of five individuals in and around Anchorage, Alaska, most of whom were in parks or along bike paths. He always committed his murders at night, often around midnight or a short time after. Ritchie was killed during a shootout with police officers in downtown Anchorage on November 12, 2016. Following his death, a Colt Python handgun on his person connected him to the string of murders he committed over the course of two months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Death of Victoria Martens</span> 2016 homicide case in New Mexico, US

On August 24, 2016, the body of 10-year-old Victoria Martens was found in an apartment building in Albuquerque, New Mexico. After responding to a 9-1-1 call regarding a domestic dispute, officers discovered Martens' dismembered remains partially wrapped in a burning blanket in her mother's apartment. The victim's mother, 35-year-old Michelle Martens; her boyfriend, 31-year-old Fabian Gonzales; and Gonzales' cousin, 31-year-old Jessica Kelley, were arrested at the scene and charged with first-degree murder, child abuse resulting in grievous bodily harm or death, kidnapping, tampering with evidence, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. All three suspects pled not guilty in the state's court. On June 29, 2018, Michelle Martens pled guilty to one count of child abuse resulting in death. The same day, the Albuquerque Police Department announced a fourth unidentified male suspect was being sought in connection to the case based on DNA evidence recovered from the scene.

References

  1. 1 2 Valdez, Diana Washington (September 13, 2016). "The West Mesa Murders: A Central American Connection? – New Mexico State University". Frontera NorteSur. Archived from the original on December 9, 2017. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Albuquerque sex workers face perils". El Paso Times. February 17, 2014. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  3. ↑ "Fair prostitutes help West Mesa murders" Archived 2010-11-14 at the Wayback Machine Krqe.com. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
  4. 1 2 3 Copeland, Cody (2021-03-12). "The Untold Truth Of The West Mesa Murders". Grunge.com. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
  5. ↑ "APD Talks 10-Year Investigation Into West Mesa Murders". KUNM. 2019-02-21. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
  6. ↑ "The West Mesa Murders And The Bone Collector Behind Them". All That's Interesting, Something Interesting To Read Every Day. 18 August 2021. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
  7. ↑ Nicole Perez; Robert Browman (February 1, 2016). "Updated: Seven years later, one detective remains on West Mesa killings". www.abqjournal.com. Archived from the original on August 12, 2016. Retrieved May 22, 2017.
  8. ↑ "AMW – Fugitives – West Mesa Bone Collector – Case". 25 October 2012. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Women's photos may link to mesa murders". Krqe.com. Archived from the original on December 28, 2013. Retrieved 2010-12-12.
  10. ↑ Grace Wyler (September 9, 2014). "Who Is the West Mesa Bone Collector?". Vice., Aolnews.com. Retrieved 2010-12-12.
  11. 1 2 "West Mesa Serial Killer--$100,000 Reward". Albuquerque Police Department. Archived from the original on 2010-12-06. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
  12. ↑ "Lawton girl was only teen in mass grave" Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine Swoknews.com. Retrieved 2010-12-12.
  13. ↑ "Victim's families glad APD has leads" Archived 2010-12-14 at the Wayback Machine Krqe.com. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
  14. ↑ "Albuquerque police release photos in West Mesa murders investigation (warning: content may be disturbing for some people)" Archived 2013-12-28 at the Wayback Machine joplinglobe.com. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
  15. ↑ "APD receives tips on pics" Archived 2010-12-12 at the Wayback Machine . Krqe.com. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
  16. ↑ 'Police: Woman in photo passed away" Archived 2010-12-15 at the Wayback Machine . Krqe.com. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
  17. ↑ "Police identify 2 women from photos, both alive" Archived 2010-12-22 at the Wayback Machine Kob.com. Retrieved 2010-12-14.
  18. ↑ "‘Dateline’ To Air Story on West Mesa Deaths" Archived 2011-06-14 at the Wayback Machine , Albuquerque Journal. Retrieved 2010-12-12.
  19. 1 2 3 "West Mesa Bone Collector – Albuquerque NM". University of Tampa Criminology Blog. Archived from the original on 23 December 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-12.
  20. ↑ "Police Pursue Possible Leads In West Mesa Cases". Koat.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-13. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
  21. 1 2 "Does APD have a suspect in the West Mesa Murders?". KRQE.com. Archived from the original on 2014-12-22. Retrieved 2015-01-24.
  22. ↑ "The Homicides of 2006" Archived 2010-12-08 at the Wayback Machine Abqtrib.com. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
  23. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dZSEY06eyo
  24. ↑ Writer, Globe Staff. "Albuquerque police release photos in West Mesa murders investigation". Joplin Globe. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  25. ↑ Jeff Lehr (Aug 8, 2011). "Joplin man says he has been cleared of suspicion in serial murders". The Joplin Globe.
  26. ↑ "Colorado killer quizzed in mesa murders" Archived 2011-01-06 at the Wayback Machine Krqe.com. Retrieved 2011-01-04.
  27. ↑ "DNA linked to Mid-School rapist". KRQE.com. Retrieved 2015-01-24.
  28. ↑ "Accused serial rapist, West Mesa murder suspect sentenced to 36 years in rape case". KRQE.com. Archived from the original on 2015-06-09. Retrieved 2015-01-24.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.