dateline west mesa murders dateline west mesa murders

>> reporter: an impromptu. but in the end ida was able to make everybody care. >> dan, she was i.d. Women living a primal lifestyle are tribal. and where was he now? the patience of job. click, call, or visit a store today. bring in your own phone, switch to xfinity mobile and save hundreds of dollars a year. >> you're finding this, and you're just going, i wonder if it's going to be the rest of the girls. there's a better choice. This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17 U.S. Code). i think because for the first time we had started to put faces on these women and we had explained to the citizens of albuquerque that there weren't just two women that were missing. detective ida lopez, who would later make it her mission to find michelle and the other missing women, was on medical leave at the time. can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn? To this day only theories remained. In this case, there was almost nothing but bones.. >> right. >> so we were able to, communicate with each other anything that came up. The West Mesa Murders City of Albuquerque The 11 victims whose remains were discovered at the West Mesa site in 2009. All but one had fallen into prostitution and struggled with drug abuse, according to police. >> yeah. 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. >> yes. sad but common, especially for these dark streets where drug addiction and prostitution literally go hand in hand. >> all six sets of remains were found within 20 yards of each other. and what we hope to happen is that someone that's had an encounter with this killer will. By (61264) First Published: 1:46 PM PST, February 4, 2022 the news media had shown little interest in the story when desperate family members had come to them asking for help. >> this in a way suggests that maybe there are women out there who aren't on any list. >> i don't believe so. >> i would tell them every single day we're one day closer to finding your daughter. let's get to be each other's support system. only activia has billions of our live and active probiotics. "They didn't deserve what they got. Wozniak came under suspicion after he instructed a sixteen-year-old, Wesley Freilich, to withdraw money from Herr's accounts. if the serial killer who preyed on their city is still alive, he's probably moved on to another hunting ground. protection. >> on the way back from arizona to here she promised, i'm not going to hang out with the same people, i'm going to do things different and you're going to be proud of me again, and then she bails two hours after she's home. and ida lopez couldn't help but wonder if these dry bones were the women she'd been looking for. and every time the phone rang his heart stopped. do not use if you are allergic to dupixent. >> there's probably people that, were in albuquerque during the time frame we're looking at and now through investigative leads or other sources we find something that tells us a little bit more about their lifestyle as well, which would give us again that kind of immediate gut reaction, it's got to be. don't wait. >> i find a girl with the same background. One of those suspects was Joseph Blea. >> reporter: but that unfortunately will never happen. -[ scoffs ] if you say so. [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. 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. and you never know how your skin will look. so you can move more. and i thought, well, i'll write it and we'll see what happens. probably familiar with the prostitution trade. There has been very little publicity. memorial came to life alongside the wall that bordered the desert crime scene. it's pretty much the easiest way to save since sliced bread. drive to a remote location. >> so lorenzo was arrested for charges beyond just patronizing a prostitute. [7], On February 2, 2009, a woman walking a dog found a human bone on the West Mesa, and reported it to police. >> reporter: according to police, montoya lured the woman to his home near the west mesa burial ground. and the newly organized families, which included everyone with a daughter on ida's list, began holding monthly vigils to keep public attention focused on finding all of the missing women. and that's when angelica looked at me and started crying. okay? >> hi. Dateline Full Episodes. a restless night's sleep. i just want to know when was the last time you saw her? then six. >> thin, wired out, strung out maybe. but can't get your hands on anything else. Although Montoya fit the description, the West Mesa serial killer remains unidentified. the fall of 2005 was one of those times. Today, two suspects remain only of whom is still alive. >> there are other girls from out of state in the same -- you know, are we going to find another repeat? women very often involved in prostitution, it's not uncommon for them to go missing for weeks or months at a time. >> investigators are looking for connections. >> that really sends a chill up and down your spine. An episode of NBC "Dateline" airing Friday will feature the West Mesa murder case. It's no secret. >> reporter: and within weeks ida's early work of collecting dental records of the missing women and dna samples from their families began to pay off. so it's a matter of time before they go back out. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. >> since her skull was pretty much intact, one of our senior investigators who is able to do forensic sketching started doing a profile for her. according to the website, she'd been a 13-year-old runaway from a group home in lawton, oklahoma in 2003. and that's what we're trying to figure out. >> reporter: dan immediately called detective ida lopez with the tip. >> reporter: two women on ida lopez's list had already been identified among the 11 sets of remains. i don't remember the last words we spoke. On february 2, 2009, a woman walking a dog found a human bone on the west mesa of albuquerque, new mexico. >> i thought maybe she'd turn up a few days later, a few weeks, or we'd -- you know, she'd call us. -what a sign, huh? Photo Source 55 is a suggestion. The fact that all but one of the victims had links to sex work initially helped guide the police investigation for the serial killer they dubbed the West Mesa Bone Collector. But not even FBI profilers were able to find the killer. with uncontrolled moderate-to-severe eczema, or atopic dermatitis, you feel like you're itching all the time. >> it was a problem. >> okay. squeeze me tight. >> what did doctors tell you? >> reporter: now investigators feared the serial killer they were hunting may have buried other bodies elsewhere in the vast desert west of town. Produced, reported and maintained by Journal staff member. Josh Mankiewicz reports from New Mexico. They found rope and electrical tape during the search. so you get a lot of that. that the chin was specific for me. it's been nine years since that summer night when ida lopez first took to the streets of albuquerque's war zone alone, searching for a couple of missing women. [20], Lorenzo Montoya lived less than three miles from the burial site. The cases remain unsolved with no arrests. apoquel goes right to the source of itch to provide relief in as little as four hours! doesn't just deal with missing. [3][4][5][6] This small fragment of a human trafficking ring involves numerous population centers, including Las Vegas in Nevada, El Paso and Killeen in Texas, and Denver in Colorado.[2]. This blog features observations from Randy Turner, a former teacher, newspaper reporter and editor. and there's a foot chase. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. There is a reward of up. I have a friend who was in a relationship with one Adrian P. Trujillo. 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. i noticed when she started seeing one of her boyfriends, you know. (vo) automatically sort your expenses and save over 40 hours a month. ask your eczema specialist about dupixent. >> there's a dad who had a calendar. could be others. The 49 girls and women murdered by Gary Ridgway, the "Green River Killer," in Washington state in the 1980s and '90s didn't receive anywhere near the same level of public attention and sympathy as the college students Ted Bundy murdered in the same state in the 1970s. it was tough. Tonight's Dateline episode entitled Miami Heat will focus on the tragic events that led up to the fatal shooting of Orlando Mesa and 18-month old Noah 'Noa' Mesa, who survived the brutal attack. a. with xfinity mobile you can bring in your own phone, switch wireless carriers and save hundreds of dollars. >> looking at everybody. ida went by the book. Paleontologists In China Just Discovered A Prehistoric Egg Fossil From A Nearly Human-Sized Turtle With A Baby Inside, How A 200 Pound Order Of Meat And A Nosy Upstate Cop Nearly Vanquished The American Mob, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. >> he may be waiting in some other community to start doing the same thing again. >> we believe so. but you know what? West Mesa murder case reaches ten year anniversary. Both had disappeared after walking to a local park in 2004. >> reporter: it had to be someone local, investigators assumed. He choked to death a prostitute at his home, then was shot by the . 'd, and it was her, and they found, you know, she was pregnant. >> reporter: and for albuquerque's homicide detectives there was the most pressing question of all. Thoughts? [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]. >> correct. they came up with their profile of who they thought we were looking for, including that profile was a white male. [9][22] They confiscated "tens of thousands" of photos from the man, who reportedly used to visit the state fair in Albuquerque. >> reporter: the families of the 18 women now on ida's list prayed for happy endings like that one. Paige Birgfeld, 34, was a well-liked . The same evening, Wozniak went on to perform in his local theatre production of the musical Nine. >> because this guy had complete, freedom or he thought nobody's going to come out here? every morning the sunrises over the sandia mountains east of albuquerque and begins baking one of the most celebrated stretches of asphalt in the united states -- historic route 66, the highway famous for carrying dust bowl refugees and beat generation oddballs west to california. she said, "no, don't tell me that. She said that people should not lose hope, that there is no statute of limitations on crimes like these, and that the police will work the West Mesa Murders until the case is solved. advil pm. >> kind of weird to be able to, you know, call a family and say great news -- >> oh, yeah. Syllania Edwards, a 15-year-old runaway from Lawton, Oklahoma, was the only African American, and the only victim from out of state. >> and i said, well, let's gather these families together and let's get to know them. >> what about those last seven girls? The El Paso Crime Stoppers office received an anonymous tip in 2010 that a suspect whose last name was Cota had killed a girl nicknamed "Mimi" and "Chocolate," both of which were names Edwards was known to go by. she says, "i have some bad news for you." A two-hour NBC Dateline special about the 2014 Fayetteville murder of James Allan Chambers II will air Friday at 9 p.m. . FULL EPISODE: Somebody's Daughter. eight. Casefile True Crime. >> he was going to let her stay with us. Dateline Mystery is a series that is currently running and has 1 seasons (7 episodes). also, again, it goes back to the lifestyle. so you can move more. >> missing persons is kind of a backwater in a lot of departments. They were between 15 and 32 years of age, most were Hispanic, and most were involved with drugs and sex work. In 1999, a sex worker named Cynthia Vigil Jaramillo was kidnapped and imprisoned in a city south of Albuquerque by a man named David Parker Ray, aka the "Toy-Box Killer." i am comfortable with the fact that we gave her a proper burial as a human being should be buried. >> reporter: though police say they have a half dozen suspects on their radar at any given time, so far they haven't been able to eliminate or arrest any of them. now no fruit is forbidden. TV Archive Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. West Mesa Murders satellite photos show the undeveloped land where the victims were discovered. The case remains unsolved till date, with eight girls still missing. Police say a woman walking her dog reported finding what appeared to be a femur on the mesa. >> did you believe her story? and there's so much work that's always done behind the scenes to get them identified. except for one thing. Lopez was part of the investigation from the very beginning, when the homicides were a series of missing persons cases related to the disappearance of numerous women. that. To this day, law enforcement officials have been unable to discover the true identity of the murderer, despite the fact that they have a list of potential suspects, two of whom are. While the killings were initially believed to be the work of a serial killer, the involvement of a sex trafficking ring has been suspected. >> don't know. That discovery of a single bone led to a months-long dig, as police used DNA and dental records to identify the women and girls. >> if those houses had been built, they would have been built right on top of that graveyard. His cellmate said Blea admitted to knowing many of the murdered women and had even hit one of them for allegedly trying to steal his money. -you're not even enrolled in this class. right. In 2007, before the harrowing discovery, the detective reportedly claimed that she had a file of more than 17 women, whom she referred to as "her girls," with similar backgrounds of addiction or prostitution who went missing between 2001 and 2006 from the Albuquerque streets. because, they suppose, all those earlier rumors about the women being abducted, killed, and dumped in the desert had to have started somewhere. babcock says he saw marks on the woman's throat and that she told him montoya looked like he was enjoying it. t and so that gave me an empathy for them on that part, and i thought, wow, this has got to be powerful. There has been little pressure on the police to investigate.. 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. mostly progressive's name your price tool. after three years angelica was sent to live with dan's mother, who lived nearby, and michelle took to living with a series of people she called friends. but one name stood out. it's got to be that person. >> reporter: the target of the search warrant was a local joplin, missouri photographer who had allegedly been in albuquerque to take pictures during the city's 2004 balloon fiesta. i'm guessing you noticed before anybody else. heart that day when she wasn't there. it was not the way that her mother and i raised her. >> reporter: the detectives needed a solid tip. / CBS Colorado. >> and that's still a lot of people. missing persons, you know, was busy. not just because of what happens but because of what might have been prevented, missed, or altogether avoided. Albuquerque police released photos of unidentified women who may also be linked to the West Mesa murders. i find her months later. la la la la la. i don't have a normal, you know, regular address. 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. >> she was on my list. but once -- once, you know, we had that bond, me and angelica,e it was nice. Known as the West Mesa killings, the victims' deaths have resulted in no arrests, despite the massive homicide investigation police launched after discovering the makeshift graves. 2015. >> reporter: they call it tough love. except their families. Case 27: The West Mesa Bone Collector. >> so you told michelle she couldn't come over? In a major plot twist, as they were about to be married, one had something to confess and the other dealt with the fallout. >> reporter: michelle valdez. >> it's a lot of people. American convicted of murder on death row, Dr. Phil: Was She an Accomplice to Murder? he wouldn't say what the plans were because the only, you know, close person i knew had cancer and died. 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. it's fast itch relief. you know, it's stuff you read about. While the FBI created suspect profiles, Albuquerque police knocked on doors. >> reporter: after college ida graduated from the police academy and joined the force as a uniformed officer.ol >> most of my areas that i ce worked, especially patrol, i was assigned working the prostitutes in the area. you're lying to me. dr. scholl's. i miss you, hon. by the fall of 2004 dan valdez's calendar was beginning to fill with xs. A life long resident of Albuq., NM. By Marlene Lenthang, MaryEllen Resendez, Jennifer Pirone, and Amanda Karrh May 21, 2021, 9:22 AM 6:56 Single mom Paige Birgfield goes missing in a small Colorado town: Part 1 >> you know, i just didn't know. No one noticed they were gone.. because deep within your skin an overly sensitive immune system could be the cause. Dirk Gibson has no faith that will change, because police lack the necessary incentive. but the detectives knew simply finding the bones in the first place had been an incredibly lucky break. that's why we're staying with homicidal violence. After two trials, killer of Colorado mom of three with secret life appeals conviction Lester Jones was found guilty of kidnapping and murder in December 2016. 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. -oh. and all but one, a juvenile, had lengthy arrest records for drugs or prostitution. >> reporter: finding a bone, even a human bone, is not unusual out here on albuquerque's west mesa. hopefully they've been in a commune in some mountainous town or in a rehab center or a jail or with friends that they're actually doing okay. but i get to say this is where she's at. this photo, taken the following year, shows even more bare spots. Wikimedia CommonsDowntown Albuquerque as seen from the West Mesa. for all-day, all-night protection. and one of the things that those girls all had in common was that they were all attractive and blond and white and didn't have any criminal record. >> i love you, michelle. looking for michelle. >> i went to some drug rehab places who were not willing to help me. >> reporter: by now the street alongside the desert crime scene was a media encampment, where reporters were predictably live at 5:00, 6:00, and 10:00. sometimes reporting details that crime scene commander paul feist preferred to keep secret. -not this. >> reporter: based on photographs of the skull and a partial hair weave that was recovered from her grave, the sketch artist imagined that jane doe number 7 must have looked something like this. we came upon it, and it appeared to be a bone. >> yes. Over time, a number of men have attracted police attention, though not named as full suspects, in connection with the murders. ROBERT BROWMAN. the first words out of this girl's mouth was that he was trying to kill her. then five. for ida walking through this bone yard felt as if she were watching a horror movie unfold in real time.