now that two women from ida's list had been identified, jolene had an idea. there could be others. >> and under a desert sky the lost waited to be found. that changed when michelle failed to show up for angelica's seventh birthday party. i never wanna hear you say no, kevin no, kevin! They gathered information from grieving families and locals, which helped clear up when the victims were last seen but not how they died. They may have been OD's? so she did what every good detective does. i sent it to my sister, who's a nurse. and it was i thought perfect timing. >> reporter: investigators had plenty of leads but none that had gotten them closer to answering two questions -- who was he? >> how many other detectives ins missing persons? >> and the man in the car was? for the moments that mattered most to her daughter, angelica. >> i was only 8 years old and becoming an aunt, you know. love for your gut. >> we really can't say why. -what? According to the Albuquerque Journal, it all began when a woman out for a walk with her dog in a part of the city known as the West Mesa made a grisly discovery in February 2009. then six. 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Valdez disappeared from Albuquerque, New Mexico on September 22, 2004. apoquel. ", "Accused serial rapist, West Mesa murder suspect sentenced to 36 years in rape case", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=West_Mesa_murders&oldid=1140315217, This page was last edited on 19 February 2023, at 14:32. dr. scholl's. because deep within your skin an overly sensitive immune system could be the cause. Looking back what has changed for women on the streets?". use febreze every time you tidy up to keep your whole house smelling fresh air clean. you know, it seems like they knew or something. 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. they came up with their profile of who they thought we were looking for, including that profile was a white male. >> a third one. mostly progressive's name your price tool. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. >> reporter: and so in july 2005, after a few months of recuperation as a reserve officer, the department offered ida a 20-hour-a-week desk job working missing persons. >> reporter: dan may have had. most common side effects are vomiting and diarrhea. missing persons, you know, was busy. Crime Junkie. >> reporter: in addition to victoria chavez and michelle valdez, the others from ida's list were cinnamon elks, julie nieto, veronica romero, monica candelaria, and doreen marquez. to find out commander mike geyer, head of the albuquerque p.d. and then she left it. Then, Ruca found a bone resembling a femur. that day it fell to 15-year-old camille to fill in for michelle and act as mom. Although the murders stopped after that, police have unfortunately not been able to say without a doubt that Montoya was the serial killer known as the West Mesa Bone Collector. Where were the males that make up their community? >> 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. >> the reality, it was kind of, like this is not happening. >> the majority of our girls were street-level prostitutes. no dna. what if jane doe number 7 was just the first of many victims the grave digger brought to the, west mesa from somewhere else? >> yes. 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. a restless night's sleep. Several suspects have been named, but none were arrested or charged. >> reporter: nine months after the discovery of the first bone on the west mesa the detectives were back to square one. that nobody really ever sees. There are also photos of possible missing women that are connected to the case. All but one had fallen into prostitution and struggled with drug abuse, according to police. News and Information, Talk and Interview NEW S31 E19 | 02/26/23 The Window WATCH LATEST EPISODE. >> we would just love to have the opportunity to interview him and treat him just like any of the other individuals we're looking at in this case. that's all we really wanted, just to flash her picture real quick. Her husband, Orlando Mesa, and 18-month-old son were shot just moments after the pair were captured on haunting surveillance camera enjoying the spring evening. >> so you were being a father all over again. soon could be months. i love you, hon. About Dateline: Secrets Uncovered. how'd he get out?! by now dan was emerging as the videographer and de facto spokesman for the families. >> then about a month and a half after i was diagnosed, then i had my kidney removed. Are there any other episodes or podcasts you'd recommend that discuss this further? aleve. Her skeletal remains were found at a construction site in the West Mesa area of Albuquerque in February, along with the bodies of many other victims. dan valdez, her father, had reported michelle missing six months before ida got the case.c he was the guy who kept the calendar. >> yeah. >> reporter: and as it turns out, jolene gutierrez krueger, a columnist for the "albuquerque journal," had gotten a copy of that list a few years earlier, when she worked the police beat. every fall as the. The investigation led the detective to discover at least 17 more similar cases of missing women, whom she referred to as "her girls.". i said all right. yet. every time he saw her he marked the date down. >> reporter: suddenly families who'd once felt isolated in their agony now felt a communal bond. >> we went back starting in 2002, and we got the records from our local jail. According to the TV program, FBI profilers told Albuquerque police that the killer was a white or Hispanic male in his 30s. do not use apoquel in dogs less than 12 months old or those with serious infections. all of them about the same age,m with a similar look.he all were known to hang out in a section of albuquerque so o notorious that cops call it the war zone. i don't have a normal, you know, regular address. Someone called Father Reynaldo at the St. Francis Cathedral in Santa Fe to provide the last rites to a dying grandfather. Case 27: The West Mesa Bone Collector. michelle's little girl angelica was now the center of attention. >> reporter: the fact is dan valdez had been recording his. dateline west mesa murders; 3 Jun, 2022 dateline west mesa murders Julie Gonzales, the sister of Daniel Wozniak, the California theater actor accused of beheading his neighbor, Army vet Sam Herr, and his friend Juri "Julie" Kibuish, in Costa Mesa six years ago, is the focus of Dateline NBC tonight. >> suggesting possibly that the killer met her in denver, brought her here? The toddler peddled a small trike across the couple's driveway and out of view of the camera as Mesaa . i just want to know when was the last time you saw her? Barela was last seen at a family gathering, which she and Salazar left for a park on San Mateo and Gibson Boulevard, near the airport. Syllania Edwards, also 15, was the only one not from New Mexico. at first some of them were hesitant. it was all just unverifiable street talk, the kind ida lopez had heard before. >> then in february 2009 came unsettling news. and that didn't take that part away, that she was still somebody's little girl. >> i see her pull up out front, and i go out and stand on the sidewalk. Valdez was pregnant at the time of her death and her . she confirmed that that looked like a femur bone and i should call the authorities. and then three. he's just an individual that came to our attention that we had to follow through. it's a quote familiar to detectives everywhere. In February 2009, her body was identified. -oh. A North Miami woman bent on revenge was convicted Wednesday of gunning down the ex-business partner she blamed for the murder of her alleged drug-dealer husband. There hasnt been the degree of public fear and alarm that you might expect. Please enter valid email address to continue. Ruca found a large bone protruding from the earthen trail. "Here is that mark of 10 years. >> there's a dad who had a calendar. According to the Albuquerque Journal, it all began when a woman out for a walk with her dog in a part of the city known as the West Mesa made a grisly discovery in February 2009. >> he was able to define out her ears. they were able to get me a booking photograph of what syllania looked like around the time that she died, we believe. it's pretty much the easiest way to save since sliced bread. probably had some brush with law enforcement. our daughters. backing you. and i said, you know, what are you talking about? >> possibly the killer? young hispanic women with arrest records for drugs or prostitution. because savings is as savings does. >> i really thought he could be her killer. if you don't have faith in your law enforcement to treat everybody equal, then what do you have? >> in death as in life? They think theyre just a bunch of hookers and drug addicts, he said. >> reporter: -- no one who seemed to know something about the five-year missing persons cases was dialing the phone. Mesa and their son were shot outside their home, their son was only injured. ask your veterinarian about apoquel today. of a young girl's dreams. I have a friend who was in a relationship with one Adrian P. Trujillo. i know in my heart i didn't do the right thing, but i knew that the common sense of my brain said that i had to. anybody that was arrested for prostitution, criminal solicitation, anything like. tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems, including eye pain or changes in vision. The case remains unsolved till date, with eight girls still missing. but for ida lopez the discovery and identification of seven women from her list meant that years of careful detective work were finally paying off. all you can do is bring them up, nurture them, show them love, attention, appreciation. she hunted the guilty. Sorry! but you know, you have to have faith in your law enforcement. but once -- once, you know, we had that bond, me and angelica,e it was nice. In 2015, Blea was found guilty of sexual assault in charges stemming from incidents in the 1980s and 1990s and was sentenced to 90 years in prison. activia. Paige Birgfeld: Missing Mother Living a Double Life Was Kidnapped & Murdered. and detective ida lopez, who'd had their names on her list of missing women. ready, set, go. >> daddy, can i have something to eat now? "It appears that some of the women may be unconscious, again we . and i said, look, i'm not running you. [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. it's the same instinct that drew her to police work years ago, when she was a kid, growing up in albuquerque. The West Mesa killings occurred from 2001 - 2005, and the serial killer responsible has never been caught. >> we were always bumping heads. sure, why not? Jun 09, 2022. dateline west mesa murders the only one to combine a safe sleep aid and the 12-hour pain-relieving strength of aleve. >> it's kind of eerie looking at those satellite photos. Please logout and login again. [ soft piano music playing ] mm, uh, what do you do for fun? a money-making spectacle that draws tourists from all over the world to albuquerque for one week in october. i'm craig melvin. it recommends our best custom fit orthotic to relieve foot, knee, or lower back pain. [citation needed], In November 2012, Wozniak's then-fiance, Rachel Mae Buffett, was arrested[10] and charged with three felony counts of accessory-after-the-fact based on allegations that she had lied multiple times to police investigators. >> did you see her then? and thoughts of rare moments together before she went missing. The Untold Truth Of The West Mesa Murders. Terms of Service (last updated 12/31/2014). nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts for all-day, all-night protection. >> reporter: from a pool of hundreds wendy first narrowed the field to 30, then to 10, and then to 1. one girl whose face, age, and biography seemed to match what she saw in the sketch. but within a few months of receiving those remains the lab-coated sleuths at the office of the medical investigator began unraveling the riddle of jane doe number 7. >> no, you can't. >> and what information do you have? >> i love you, michelle. and all had worked as prostitutes on the mean streets of the city's war zone. so in ida's absence the valdez family was at the mercy of the police department's bureaucracy. All Rights Reserved. On May 21, 2010, Wozniak shot and killed his neighbor, Private First Class Samuel "Sam" Herr, a 26-year-old Afghanistan War veteran, at a Los Alamitos theater. so he's going to have close contact with these people. but two years later, in 2004, when most of the women on detective ida lopez's list were disappearing, the images show tire tracks leading from this road to a few bare spots in the vegetation. to her ending up out here. -or maybe he didn't know. The crime episode will also show how the murder of another man named Ilan Nissim is connected to this case. bones started to get names. probably familiar with the prostitution trade. >> did you believe her story? Today, two suspects remain only of whom is still alive. Syllania Edwards, a 15-year-old runaway from Lawton, Oklahoma, was the only African American, and the only victim from out of state. 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? In 2006 there were reportedly dirt trails leading from his trailer park to the site. All of the women were Latina and all were from New Mexico, except Syllannia Edwards, who was African American and from Oklahoma. >> there's nothing to connect lorenzo montoya to those 11 bodies? 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. >> because this guy had complete, freedom or he thought nobody's going to come out here? the killer, whoever he was, and police naturally assumed the killer was male, had a five-year head start. >> this in a way suggests that maybe there are women out there who aren't on any list.