The hidden graves of Albuquerque’s West Mesa | Forensic Files

[Music] the eastern side of the City of Albuquerque New Mexico is closed in by Mountains on the city's west side a Mesa
rises out of the Rio Grande Valley in 2005 subdivisions and new housing were being built along the West Mesa the
construction pressed up against the vast desert that stretches beyond where you will find tumbleweeds high tension wires
and trash it is a desolate isolated spot in 2008 the economy crashed and the new
home stopped being built it was on a 92 acre lot of land on the West Mesa one year later 2009 where subdivision
work had started but construction had never gone ahead where a serial killers burial ground was found
[Music] detective Ida Lopez from the Albuquerque Police Department was assigned to the
missing persons unit in 2005 she was the only detective assigned there there was
low priority work detective Lopez was the first officer to sense something wasn't right in the Albuquerque to
missing persons reports came across a desk both women fit a similar profile they
were known sex workers who also used drugs and they vanished without a trace not letting friends or family know of
their whereabouts it's common in these types of cases for family members to hear well that's just part of the
lifestyle they live sometimes people don't want to be found they don't have to keep contact with you or tell you
where they are it doesn't mean they're missing and that's exactly what many families of the victims in this case
heard but detective Lopez couldn't ignore the similarities in these two missing girls appearance or the
circumstances in which they vanished she started looking into other cases involving women who had disappeared from
Albuquerque that matched the same profile she discovered more and more cases that all bought eerie similarities
the list of missing women eventually grew to 24 some were crossed off that list as time went on eventually turning
up either back in the upper querque or in other parts of the country but it was clear something wasn't right the common
thing the missing girl shared was that they were involved in sex work and many battled drug addiction the area of the
Albuquerque all of the victims were known to work is referred to by some as the warzone in recent years the area was
rebranded as the International District there is an area there on Central Avenue
that is something of a red-light district it's a place where the most vulnerable the most desperate show up
looking for money looking for drugs it's also where people prey on those who have
no place else to turn detective Lopez hit the streets to try and find out as much information as she could
questioning anyone who would speak to her about the missing girls trying to find out about their last
movements if they knew each other trying to find that common thread it wasn't long before detective Lopez started to
hear about the rumors circulating the streets at the time there were whispers Oriente on that Albuquerque had its own
version of Jack the Ripper a psycho preying on vulnerable victims who he felt society wasn't going to miss the
rumors even mentioned specifically the missing girls were dead and were buried on the West Mesa as that information was
just rumor at the time there was no evidence to go on no specific spot to start the West Mesa was too vast of an
area to start searching for victims who might be buried there that's their desert
where would the police even begin they needed something more and so detective Lopez kept working kept pounding the
pavement asking questions trying to find out what happened part of the investigation process carried out by
detective Lopez was asking for dental records and taking DNA samples from family members of the missing girls this
work would prove vital later on as the years passed though nothing much came of the investigation there was very
little media coverage of the missing girls not many people seem to care it was never really in the public's minds
there are varying reports depending on where and who you are getting on from about just how hard the police were
actually looking most of the local media didn't even bat an eyelid at the story even turning some of the victims
families away refusing to give it any airtime if there was any truth to that rumor about Albuquerque having its own
Jack the Ripper it looked like he was proven right Society didn't seem to care the story didn't really fade from the
public's mind because it was never really there in the first place nobody other than the families of the missing
girls and detective Lopez seemed to care it was the second of February 2009 five
years after Detective Lopez had made up a list and Christine Ross who lived in one of the new housing subdivisions on
the West Mesa was taking her dog for a walk her dog started playing with a bone sticking out of the ground on an
abandoned construction site that was supposed to have had new homes built on it by now Christine felt uneasy about
the bone it didn't look like any of the usual animal bones she had found in the area before she took a picture of it and
sent it to her sister who was a registered nurse her sister got back to her almost immediately it looked like a
human femur Christine contacted the Albuquerque Police Department they arrived and were
able to quickly determine that it was most definitely a human bone a crime scene was established that would
become the largest crime scene in the Albuquerque history human bones were found scattered in one section of a 92
acre piece of land owned by a home developer KB home it was the work that KB home had already
completed on the site that made the huge task more complicated the builders had done extensive grading and digging and a
lot of heavy machinery had been used in order to get the land ready to build on that work had totally changed the
landscape and shattered many of the bones in the process scattering their location the police had to call in
state-of-the-art equipment to help process the crime scene ground-penetrating radar
lasers aerial photography and digital mapping were all used in total police dug through 40,000 cubic yards of dirt
digging down as far as 15 feet in some places it took them two and a half months of processing the crime scene
before they were satisfied that they had recovered all of the victims buried at the soil in total there were 11 female
victims the youngest was 15 the oldest was 32 one of the victims was also four months pregnant reconstructing the
skeletons was a long and difficult process it was like putting together a giant puzzle and a lot of the puzzle
pieces were broken it would take one year before all of the victims were positively identified the work of
detective Lopez in compiling the list of missing girls from Albuquerque and obtaining dental records and getting
their DNA on file was a huge help to the investigation in total seven of the 11 victim was found buried at the West Mesa
already appeared on that missing list compiled by detective Lopez some of the victims have more information released
about them than others but those seven were [Music] mónica Candelaria who was 21 years old
money care enjoyed laughing joking looking after babies and spending time with her family she was a loving mother
to her son she was last seen in southwest Albuquerque on the 11th of May 2003 Monica was reported missing soon
after her disappearance her report was treated primarily as a missing persons case but it was noted that fair play
could be involved incredibly detectives working the case heard a rumor that she had been killed
and buried on the Mesa that rumor would be proven right many years later but nothing ever came of it at the time the
fall was turned over to the cold-case unit after a few months that's where detective Lopez discovered that the
circumstances matched other missing girls in the area and she added Monica to her list
Doreen Marquez who was 27 years old she loved jewelry and fashionable clothes always had her hair done and nails
painted she was a loving mother who was known to throw extravagant birthday parties for her children in the year
2000 Doreen's live started to unravel she went through a difficult breakup and turned to heroin to numb the pain by
2003 Doreen's behavior had gotten very erratic she would disappear for months at a time leaving her children with
their father or with family members her sister says she didn't leave that lifestyle until the last few years of
her life that's when things started to unravel for Doreen and her addiction got the better of her there are conflicting
reports of when she was last seen the police say it was October 2003 although a friend he's adamant that she saw her
after that whichever it was she was reported missing in 2004 Victoria Chavez who was
26 years old she was reported missing by her mother in March 2005 by that stage she hadn't been seen or heard from in
over a year Veronica Romero was 27 years old she had four children and was reported missing
in February 2004 not long after she was last seen cinnamon Elks was 32 years old she was
friends with three of the other victims Victoria Chavez Julie Nieto and Michelle
Valdez who you'll hear about next when cinnamons mother didn't hear from her for her birthday in August 2004 she
knew something was wrong straightaway she reported her missing although it took a few calls before that report was
taken she was told initially the cinnamon was an adult and she had the right to cut contact with her Julie
Nieto was 23 years old enjoyed sewing cooking and music a beautiful and devoted daughter a loving
mother and a beloved friend Julie was a sweet girl who unfortunately fell to a drug addiction at age 19 her mother
tried to get a treatment but it didn't work Julie had a son who she doted over she
was a loving mother her family knew something was very wrong when she stopped sending birthday Christmas and
Easter presents to her young son she was last seen in August 2004 Michelle Valdes
was 22 years old she had one daughter who she was devoted to a good client hearted person who would give you the
shirt off her back if he needed it fun-loving always had a smile on her face and could brighten up the room with
her personality unfortunately she fell into drugs and started disappearing for days at a time in weeks then months she
would return to visit her father and he would give her small sums of money knowing that was likely going to be
spent on drugs but he gave it anyway in the hope she would keep coming back one day she never returned she was reported
missing in February 2005 Michelle was four months pregnant at the time of her death
the other four victims found buried on the West Mesa that were not on detective Lopez's list work Jaime Barela who is 15
and Evelyn Salazar who was 27 they were cousins and were both last seen together
at a family gathering in 2004 they left the family gathering and they were never
seen again Jaime was any outgoing 15 year old school student who loved her sing and
dance read and play sport her smile was so bright it was enough to lift up anyone no matter how down they
were her older cousin Evelyn liked camping and outdoor activities and she was a good cook and Jamie and Evelyn
were treated as Runaways by police their family members saying little was done in
the way of an investigation in fact after the initial report their family says they hardly heard from the police
again salanio Edwards was 15 years old she stands apart from the other victims she was the only one with no known
friends or family in Albuquerque salanio never knew her father and last saw her mother when she was fought she ran away
from foster care in Oklahoma in 2003 which is when she was reported missing she was last seen in the Denver area in
May 2004 police believe salanio may have been traveling along the i-40 interstate
highway which is how she ended up in Albuquerque Virginia cloven who was 23 years old
Virginia was a funny humorous girl who took everything in her stride the type of person that if she told you a lot two
minutes later she would admit it until the truth because she felt bad when Virginia was 17 and still in high school
her brother was shot dead absolutely devastated and struggling to cope Virginia ran away from home she lived
with her grandfather in Albuquerque for a little while before moving out with a boyfriend
tragically her boyfriend got hit by a car and went into a coma Virginia lost the place they were living
in and were soon homeless living on the streets of Albuquerque her parents last heard from her in June 2004 she called
them to say she had a new boyfriend who had just gotten out of prison and she was going to marry him
Virginia was never heard from again her parents reported her missing in October 2004 10 of the 11 victims were known sex
workers the one who wasn't was 15 year old Jamie Burrell Jamie who disappeared with her cousin
Evelyn Salazar Evelyn did have one prior for sex work so that common thread did still appear in their disappearance a
huge task force comprising of over 40 police was assembled to investigate the serial killings
it was called the 118 street task force although Albuquerque Police seemed too reluctant in the early stages to refer
to the case as a serial killing their common line being it is still too early to say what we are dealing with and that
all possibilities were being considered some of the early considerations were gang activity the idea being that they
had been executed by gang members after running drugs another one was that a local pimp was responsible another being
someone that had something against sex workers and who thought they were doing the Lord's work as part of putting
together a list of possible suspects police looked for men with a history of violence against sex workers who lived
in the area unfortunately that list wasn't short the list of potential suspects was large an interesting part
of the investigation was a timeline police created using satellite photos all of the victims found at the West
Mesa disappeared between 2003 and 2005 so they were able to access satellite photos of the area taken in 2002 there
was nothing unusual the satellite photos of the area taken in 2004 were a totally
different story they showed tire marks leading to bare spots which police determined to be
graves in 2005 the photo showed the tire tracks again and even more bare spots the satellite photos provided police
with an evolving snapshot of the killer's work it was in 2005 that the landscape of that area changed for good
that's when the housing boom was in full swing and large chunks of the area was subdivided and your states were put up
lots of digging and leveling of the land occurred it was still on the outskirts of Albuquerque still vast desert west of
the homes but all that activity is what police believe forced the killer to stop
using that particular spot as a burial ground there was just too good a chance he would be seen coming and going from
the area if not caught red-handed in 2008 the economy crashed the home developer KB
Home packed up and left the Mesa but not before preparing the area where the victims were buried to have new homes
built this is where the landscape was changed by the heavy machinery totally disrupting the crime scene but on the
flip side if the crime scene was never disturbed like this the victims may never ever been found
imagine if the economy never crashed new homes would be on top of the burial ground and we probably wouldn't even be
aware of this case FBI profilers were called upon to assist they believe the offender to be male working alone aged
35 to 50 here they lived alone or was away from home for extended periods he probably had previous run-ins with the
law for minor offenses and he liked to hire sex workers and was familiar with that world that profile is pretty
generic and could fit a large amount of people and just like any other case where a profile is made police can't
rule out somebody just because they don't fit that profile it's not an exact science the FBI in the Albuquerque
Police Department offered a $100,000 reward which is still current to anyone who assists in the arrest and conviction
of the killer this reward initially led the police to be flooded with crank calls false confessions and calls from
people trying to be helpful but who were misguided police have remained tight-lipped about the cause of death
it's something that they have kept very close to their chest all they will officially say is homicidal violence
this is an example of a piece of information that would deliberately hold back to help sift through the crank
calls and false confessions easily able to dismiss them if their accounts don't match with the evidence they have there
are two main suspects who are most talked about with this case the first is Lorenzo Montoya
a short powerfully-built man who was in his 30s at the time the West Mesa killings occurred
Montoya had multiple arrests for solicitation including one involving violence in 1999 in that particular
incident the 23 year old female victim was being watched by the voice unit they observed her get into Montoya's vehicle
which they followed to an isolated spot Montoya sexually assaulted her and started choking her the victim believed
she was going to die and suffered bruising around her throat she said it looked like Montoya was enjoying what he
was doing the Vice police approached the car and arrested Montoya however the case never proceeded as the victim
declined to testify but it's what happened in December 2006 that lead many to believe Lorenzo Montoya is the West
Mesa killer about 2:00 a.m. on Sunday the 17th of December 2006 Montoya started a conversation in a chat room
with a 19 year-old sharika hill after that conversation they agreed to meet in person Hill agreeing to go to Montoya's
mobile home in the 4000 block of Blake Road Albuquerque she agreed to perform a dance for him on her way there she
picked up her 18 year old boyfriend Fredrik Williams they parked a short distance away from Montoya's home and
Hill went inside what occurred inside was a brutal orchestrated and very violent attack Hill was strangled to
death and bound with duct tape on Montoya after about an hour Williams got concerned and went to check on Hill and
it's here that he got involved with a confrontation with Montoya who is dragging Hill was body to ease car
Montoya produced the gun but Williams shot him first Montoya didn't make it doing at the
scene police feel that the probability was higher that this wasn't the first time Montoya had committed a crime like
this it was too brutal and too planned to be his first one as one officer said this isn't the type
of crime where you wake up one morning and just decide that you're going to brutally murder someone they felt he had
done it before unfortunately though there is not a shred of physical evidence that links Montoya
to any of the victims or to the crime scene detectives have stated they would have loved the chance to interrogate him
about the West Mesa case but now they'll never have that chance he remains a person of interest the other suspect
talked about in this case is Joseph Blair seven days after the discovery of the first bone on the West Mesa a female
called police and said they should look into her ex-husband Joseph Blair police knew him quite well already
between 1990 and 2009 Bleyer had over 130 different contacts with police many of those run-ins with police wearing
areas frequented by the victims on one such occasion he was found with rope and electrical tape in his car before that
in 1985 his DNA was found on the body of a dead girl found in the Albuquerque he
was never charged with that crime in fact somebody else was sent to prison for her murder and was acquitted once
that DNA result came back matching Blaire many years later in the weeks after the victims were found on the West
Mesa Blaire was actually under police surveillance and he appeared to be stalking sex workers on Central Avenue
in Albuquerque he didn't approach any but he was closely watching them continually circling the block and
sitting in his car at a distance just staring one sex worker informed police and Bleyer had tried the tire up on one
encounter she had with him but she was able to get away Malaya is currently serving a 90 year prison sentence for
for sexual assaults on minors not related to the West Mesa case he was only recently convicted of these crimes
which occurred in the late 80s and early 90s the recent convictions coming about
by way of DNA evidence he has openly talked about the West Mesa case before claiming to have paid to be with several
of the victims in the past one of the few pieces of physical evidence located at the crime scene was a plant tag
located next to Virginia clove ins remains the plant tag was traced to a nursery in California and that nursery
since plans to Albuquerque police conducted a search warrant on Blair's house on the 11th of June 2009
they seized business records showing Bleyer purchased plants from nurseries that sold the California plants that
matched the plant tag found at the crime scene circumstantial at best but still interesting
Blaz ex-wife said she found jewelry in their house that didn't belong to her or her daughter women's underwear not
belonging to her was also found some of the victims families have reported that jewelry was missing from them on the
12th of October 2009 police conducted another search warrant on Blair's house where they seized some of that jewelry
and women's underwear as it's an active investigation police won't comment if any of the jewelry or underwear matches
the victims or if there is any DNA evidence on them but considering the case remains unsolved you would assume
there are no matches but we don't know for sure there is nothing conclusive to type
blyer to the crime and he strongly denies any involvement I mentioned before that the list compiled by
Detective Lopez of missing women from the Albuquerque area at one point reached 24 there are currently six that
are still missing and a vigil aged 20 years old she was last seen in Albuquerque on the 21st of January 2005
she was reported missing a few days later and has not been seen or heard of again Felipe Gonzalez aged 22 last seen
on the 27th of April of 2005 in Albuquerque Nina Heron 21 years old she was last seen about 5 p.m. on the 14th
of May 2005 at her home residence in Albuquerque she has not been seen or heard of again since that sighting at
home Chantel weights age 29 she was last seen in Albuquerque on the 15th of March 2006
Leah Peebles age 23 last seen on the 22nd of May 2006 leah had only been living in Albuquerque
for two weeks she was temporarily staying with friends at the time of her disappearance she left the house on the
second of May after telling her friends she was going on a date with a man she had met at a local cafe where she was
actually due to start work the following week Leah never returned and has not been seen or heard from again
Vanessa Reid age 24 last seen on the 13th of June 2006 walking away from the motel she lived at in Albuquerque after
having a fight with her sister all of these missing women match a similar background to the victims found at the
West Mesa the interesting thing about the timeline of they still active missing person cases is that Anna vigil
was the first to go missing of these group of six last seen on the 21st of January 2005 this is after Michelle
Valdez who is the last of the West Mesa victims to have gone missing all day Michelle wasn't reported missing
until February 2005 she hadn't been seen for months before that so if Michelle is
the last of the West Mesa victims to go missing and Donna went missing after that followed by five other girls who
match a similar profile and background is it possible that one or more of them are also victims of the West Mesa serial
killer but for reasons already mentioned the killer was forced to change his burial site another interesting note on
the timeline that you may have already picked up the last victim to go missing of these six still currently active
missing person cases was a Vanessa Reed last seen in June 2006 Lorenzo Montoya was shot dead six months
later there is vast desert everywhere police concede it is a very possible that there are other victims buried out
there somewhere although they are satisfied that the 11 West Mesa victims were all buried within a contained area
and no others were buried in that specific location as the killer being stopped by another method maybe he is
dead or in prison for other crimes or is he still out there maybe he has moved to
another place he uses as his hunting ground it's possible that there are people out there who know something who
were maybe too afraid to come forward before the room is that Albuquerque had its own Jack the Ripper and the missing
girls have been killed and buried on the Mesa had to have come from somewhere detective Lopez was told this before the
victims have been found there are people that obviously know something but a major problem with cold cases is the
memories fade and witnesses disappear [Music] hopefully there is someone out there who
know something with the courage to come forward [Music] you

Case 27: The West Mesa Bone Collector

The eastern side of the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, is closed in by mountains. On the city’s west side, a mesa rises out of the Rio Grande Valley.

In 2005, subdivisions and new housing were being built along the West Mesa. The construction pressed up against the vast desert that stretches beyond where you will find tumbleweeds, high tension wires and trash. It is a desolate isolated spot.

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research and writing – Anonymous Host Production, scoring – Mike Migas Additional scoring – Andrew Joslyn

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources please visit https://www.casefilepodcast.com/case-27-west-mesa-bone-collector

Brief Summary

The episode covers the West Mesa murders, Detective Lopez's investigation, and the identified victims and suspects involved in the case.

Key points

The West Mesa Murders. Detective Lopez uncovers a chilling pattern in missing persons cases, leading to a grave discovery.
Discovery of Human Remains. A dog leads to the discovery of human bones on the West Mesa, sparking a massive investigation.
The Profile of a Killer. FBI profilers suggest the killer is a male familiar with sex workers, raising the stakes in the investigation.
The West Mesa Mystery. The investigation into the West Mesa murders reveals a chilling pattern of disappearances.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It was clear something wasn't right.

Detective Lopez's intuition about the missing girls.

2:18WatchNov 19, 2018

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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