>> i love you, michelle. lengthy delays in reporting missing people as missing. 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. i'll take aleve. >> this is michelle. The mysteries surrounding the West Mesa Murders, an unsolved case of 11 female bodies discovered in a desert graveyard near Albuquerque in 2009. Authorities believe that the women may have been involved in a large interstate sex trafficking operation. long. According to the TV program, FBI profilers told Albuquerque police that the killer was a white or Hispanic male in his 30s. so they'll move from albuquerque to phoenix to las vegas to los angeles and maybe not return on that circuit for several years. activia. some of it seemed to take. >> i needed to know where they were all the time. now that two women from ida's list had been identified, jolene had an idea. every life is a mystery. American convicted of murder on death row, Dr. Phil: Was She an Accomplice to Murder? for ida walking through this bone yard felt as if she were watching a horror movie unfold in real time. >> there were numerous rumors out there that certain individuals had killed several of them, and then one in particular had been killed by drug dealers. Are there any other episodes or podcasts you'd recommend that discuss this further? the bone could easily have belonged to one of them. >> and that's more than just a few guys. It took nearly a year for medical examiners to identify the decomposing victims, most of whom were Hispanic and all of whom were female. Several arrests and convictions in El Paso, Texas, indicated that Albuquerque is part of a broader sex trafficking route that includes the states of Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas, as well as the Mexican city of Juarez. >> she came over to the house one day, and i'd given her a few dollars, and she stood up. The only emerging pattern was that 10 of the victims were sex workers or victims of sex trafficking. it's fast itch relief. but you know, you have to have faith in your law enforcement. According to Albuquerque's KQRE, Montoya hired a sex worker in December 2006 and took her to his home located less than two miles away from the site where the West Mesa victims were buried. Furthermore, Police encountered Blea nearly 140 times between 1990 and 2009, often in drug-heavy areas that the victims were known to frequent. so far all the remains identified had been names on ida lopez's list of missing women. Janepsy "Cindy" Carballo's life was shattered in an instant when a hail of gunfire erupted outside her North Miami home. >> a third one. love for your gut. i mean he's a wreck without me. s >> father all over again. >> 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. because savings is as savings does. >> and i can understand it. >> but while police try to prove it, another attack. ask your eczema specialist about dupixent. you know, maybe we ought to run that list. but you know what? sometimes into the wee hours of the morning. >> 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. >> he's got me by the throat and he's shaking me and yelling at me telling me not to say a word. looking for michelle. Ross wasnt sure the bone was human, but knew it could be. She compiled a list of the missing not all of whom have been found, raising concern there might be more victims. the next time anyone heard anything about syllania, she was here in this makeshift grave site outside albuquerque, sharing it with ten other women she never knew in life but will be forever linked with in death. but at the time it was routine low priority policework. On february 2, 2009, a woman walking a dog found a human bone on the west mesa of albuquerque, new mexico. who got an awful skin condition. December 2006. in late january 2010, nearly a year after the first bones were discovered on albuquerque's west mesa, the last set of remains was matched to another name on ida's list. ask your veterinarian about apoquel today. we had to utilize the joplin police department. http://www.rrobserver.com/news/article_2d7213ea-a0dc-11e3-aa48-001a4bcf887a.html. 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. Colorado Department of Corrections/Facebook Paige Birgfeld and Lester Jones. >> and the man in the car was? >> and you thought, this is it. you know, it seems like they knew or something. do you need anything? ten. TV Archive >> it's kind of eerie looking at those satellite photos. >> so you told michelle she couldn't come over? do not use if you are allergic to dupixent. -oh. >> reporter: before long michelle valdez stopped showing up in her father's videos. it's where they needed somebody, and it worked out, you know, for me. memorial came to life alongside the wall that bordered the desert crime scene. and i kind of was wobbling a little bit, and ida consoled me a little bit and said it's okay, you know, it's okay. >> so you were being a father all over again. >> reporter: the detectives needed a solid tip. i wouldn't say he's a suspect. ida knew the odds of finding any of the missing women alive were not good. this date's lame. >> right. >> reporter: by the end of that year ida's list had grown to more than a dozen women. Albuquerque murder mystery: Who is the West Mesa killer? >> reporter: suddenly families who'd once felt isolated in their agony now felt a communal bond. mostly progressive's name your price tool. Wikimedia CommonsDowntown Albuquerque as seen from the West Mesa. I have a friend who was in a relationship with one Adrian P. Trujillo. can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn? i was so tired of it. for ida lopez there was the fear that her nightmare prediction was coming true. >> possibly the killer? at 16 weeks, nearly four times more patients taking dupixent saw clear or almost clear skin compared to those not taking it, and patients saw a significant reduction in itch. He choked to death a prostitute at his home, then was shot by the . i got scared. -i know. >> missing women. bring in your own phone, switch to xfinity mobile and save hundreds of dollars a year. The mysteries surrounding the West Mesa Murders, an unsolved case of 11 female bodies discovered in a desert graveyard near Albuquerque in 2009. site flooded the new neighborhoods that surrounded it. >> he may be waiting in some other community to start doing the same thing again. Dateline Full Episodes. >> yes. Submissions should outline a mystery and provide a link to a more detailed review of the case such as a Wiki article or news report. I watched that Dateline Re-Run last night. >> you don't remember the last, thing you said to her? >> i'm still right down the middle of the fairway on this, right? In 2009, the bodies of 11 women were found in multiple shallow graves on the West Mesa of Albuquerque but the cases remain unsolved. and ida lopez couldn't help but wonder if these dry bones were the women she'd been looking for. and the baby. There is a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible. memories fade, and witnesses disappear, and some just don't, want to be part of it anymore. i said, "detective lopez just told us that your mother has been positively i.d. squeeze me like you've never squeezed me before. backing you. so he's going to have close contact with these people. Syllania Edwards, a 15-year-old runaway from Lawton, Oklahoma, was the only African American, and the only victim from out of state. >> it was in september of 2004. The Untold Truth Of The West Mesa Murders. sure, why not? 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. >> i think they're trick candles. An arrest was made in April 2020, but more people were likely involved. >> yeah, because based on our experience with crimes of this nature, homicide crimes, when you have multiple offenders, more than one of them, someone's going to talk. she confirmed that that looked like a femur bone and i should call the authorities. 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. New Mexico Authorities Offer $100,000 Reward for Help Solving West Mesa Murders of 11 Women and Unborn Child . Wozniak came under suspicion after he instructed a sixteen-year-old, Wesley Freilich, to withdraw money from Herr's accounts. There are so many episodes online but I can't find this one, http://www.nbcnews.com/watch/dateline/somebodys-daughter-part-1-254001731808. They may have been OD's? >> dan, she was i.d. ", "Controversial Show Starring Accused Los Alamitos Killer to Air", "NBC Dateline | FULL EPISODE: Plot Twist", "Daniel Wozniak, Rachel Buffett: 'Dateline' NBC Follows Plot Twists Of Actor In Bizarre Costa Mesa, California Murder Case", "Dateline: Secrets Uncovered season 7 episode 10 ("Plot Twist")", "20/20: 'Mystery in Apartment 410' Watch Full Episode", "Daniel Wozniak case: Full story of California double murder investigated on '20/20", "Community actor kills veteran, student for money to bankroll honeymoon", "The Perfect Murder | Watch Full Episodes & More! 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. >> reporter: desiree gonzalez says she used to hang out on these streets and says she knew several of the missing women and had also heard those same rumors. >> it was real hard because you know, i'd be circling the block. Joseph Blea (left) and Lorenzo Montoya (right). Eleanor Griego, one of the victims' mothers, had previously mentioned while commenting on the case: APD Detective Mark Manary, who continued working on the disappearances after Ida's retirement, also deserves a special mention. that dares to last into the morning. They founded Safe Streets New Mexico in response to the threats sex workers face in the state and the lack of attention paid to violent crimes against them. 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. love for your gut. but what can you do?te you can't be with them 24/7. >> reporter: when christine ross decided to take her dog ruca for a walk. >> was it possible ida lopez's list was just the tip of the iceberg? serial killer to catch but also because one set of remains was about to upset everything. >> reporter: now investigators feared the serial killer they were hunting may have buried other bodies elsewhere in the vast desert west of town. serious allergic reactions can occur, including anaphylaxis, a severe reaction. >> and this is "dateline." >> several of these victims were missing for months before anyone reported them missing. >> reporter: for medical investigator wendy honeyfield the bones of jane doe number 7 and her pink-tipped acrylic nails were a beguiling puzzle. Jan 1 2018 34 mins. oh right. dupixent is not a steroid, and it continuously treats your eczema even when you can't see it. Article continues below advertisement where did she come from? so why am i still thinking about this? that the chin was specific for me. That threat and the circumstances of his death led police to suspect that Montoya had been the West Mesa Bone Collector. >> 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. what if jane doe number 7 was just the first of many victims the grave digger brought to the, west mesa from somewhere else? you're keeping that quiet because you don't want somebody to confess to this who didn't do it. for the detective who'd long maintained that everybody counts, the existence of that kind of reward was a sign of progress. they deal with all kinds. Updated: Jan 13, 2023 / 01:45 PM EST. Theories? they were able to get me a booking photograph of what syllania looked like around the time that she died, we believe. "You have to know people, their names and what they look like to know people are missing," she said. To this day, the case remains unsolved. / CBS Colorado. the killer, whoever he was, and police naturally assumed the killer was male, had a five-year head start. The most notorious mass murder in Ohio's history happened on the night of April 21, 2016 in rural Pike County. On December 9, 2010, Albuquerque police released six photos of seven other unidentified women who may also be linked to West Mesa. 14th birthday michelle valdez gave birth to a baby girl she named angelica. The Piketon Massacre. Between 2002 and 2005, a serial killer who became known as the West Mesa Bone Collector murdered and buried 11 women in the outskirts of Albuquerque, New Mexico. She alerted the police, and Ray was arrested. but once -- once, you know, we had that bond, me and angelica,e it was nice. her future seemed assured. serious allergic reactions can occur, including anaphylaxis, a severe reaction. >> 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. >> fbi agents also searched this home. forgotten by almost everyone but her. >> that really sends a chill up and down your spine. she was at -- you know, at a hurting spot. He has interviewed 200 hundred local women with similar backgrounds and created timelines for every suspect. Thirteen years ago, the discovery of a femur bone on Albuquerque's west side would lead investigators to a mass grave site where 11 women were buried. In this video we take a look at an infamous killer in Albuquerque, New Mexico, known as the West Mesa Bone Collector. >> reporter: it would take more than diligent detective work to find those answers. apoquel may increase the chance of developing serious infections and may cause existing parasitic skin infestations or pre-existing cancers to worsen. >> reporter: but some do. >> she says i have some bad news for you. Police say Wozniak killed combat vet Samuel Eliezer . She released her statement through Young Women United, a nonprofit where she helps with programs geared toward assisting women in need. lending tree made lenders compete for my business and i ended up with a loan that saved me over $9000 and no more credit card debt. to this day faded photos of women on her list hang on her wall, alongside a line of scripture that reads, "nothing is hidden, except to be revealed." >> reporter: a time frame, 2003 to early 2005, and 11 sets of bones. >> reporter: at 14 most kids rightfully think their best years are ahead of them. >> no.n' not at all. 'd as one of the west mesa women victims -- one of the west mesa women." i enjoyed it. how did she get to albuquerque? >> did you know michelle was pregnant when she disappeared? it's the same instinct that drew her to police work years ago, when she was a kid, growing up in albuquerque. 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. Both had disappeared after walking to a local park in 2004. >> did you know who cinnamon was? drive to a remote location. the hardest part of this whole thing is having to go to somebody's house and say we. bark i wanted to consolidate my credit cards in to a personal loan to pay them off faster. >> all the stars aligned. Daniel Wozniak (murderer) 1 language Talk Read Edit View history Daniel Patrick Wozniak (born March 23, 1984) is a former American community theatre actor who was convicted of two counts of murder in September 2016. >> reporter: according to police, montoya lured the woman to his home near the west mesa burial ground. how can i help? >> last known police positive contact was in denver. you know, i was always the tag-along with her and her friends. dupixent is not a steroid, and it continuously treats your eczema even when you can't see 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. >> a few years before the first body was found a colleague of mine and i had heard about a list of women that were missing. i couldn't handle it. Street Safe was founded in 2009, aiming to ensure volunteers kept a steady presence in an area along Historic Route 66 while handing out clothing and other products each Friday. everything was in a pretty contained area. the first words out of this girl's mouth was that he was trying to kill her. Sadly, the rumor was true. >> i just always felt that if you find one you're going to find them all. he killed her, wrapped her body. apoquel goes right to the source of itch to provide relief in as little as four hours! >> reporter: but what kind of man is capable of killing is disposing of 11 women without somebody noticing something. a name and face detective babcock knew quite well from an encounter in 1999, when babcock was working the vice unit in albuquerque. The investigators were concentrating, apparently, on the females on the street. >> police have set up a tip line. a meticulous man whose grim will had brought him back to the mesa again and again to bury his victims. this bone belonged to someone who had died in the not too distant past. Why was the vehicle that took the bodies, as it did not appear the victims were murdered, killed, or executed on site, to the Burial Grounds never noticed? >> do you think we're dealing with one guy here? One of the suspects, Joseph Blea, was arrested on Albuquerques Central Avenue for exposing himself to a woman. possibly two prior times. click, call, or visit a store today. >> a third one. >> i think it's somebody who's very organized. A subreddit dedicated to the unresolved mysteries of the world. you don't have a school schedule or work schedule, that sort of thing. shocking talk on the streets. but since he bought his house are you going 45? everyone? In addition to Barela, Edwards, Salazar, and Valdez, they are: Monica Candelaria, 22; Victoria Chaves, 26; Virginia Cloven, 24; Cinnamon Elks, 32; Doreen Marquez, 24; Julie Nieto, 24; Veronica Romero, 28. i mean, that's not exactly, you know, the premier detective job. you know, it's stuff you read about. Show Transcript. Wozniak then staged the crime scene to make it appear as though Kibuishi had been sexually assaulted, suggesting that Herr had committed her assault and subsequent murder and then gone on the run. Daniel Wozniak was found guilty of the murders of Sam Herr and Julie Kibuishi. it's not the call girl. then august 2008 we have -- we had a really bad rainstorm. >> she searched for the innocent. "Dateline" aired a two-hour show on the murders a gruesome case where the remains of 11 women and an unborn fetus were found buried in the desert near New Mexico's largest city in December. the news media had shown little interest in the story when desperate family members had come to them asking for help. That way if women started disappearing again, there might be more advocates who notice and help in raising concerns, Barber said. 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. There are also photos of possible missing women that are connected to the case. remember, 2004 is when almost all of the women found on the west mesa disappeared. >> reporter: soon there were five missing women with eerily similar profiles on ida's list. you're lying to me. by the fall of 2004 dan valdez's calendar was beginning to fill with xs. >> hi. and she's alive. and thoughts of rare moments together before she went missing. nine. Dateline is the long-running, award-winning news magazine bringing viewers stories ranging from compelling mysteries to powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. >> like?wr >> the drugs. and this desert doesn't give up its secrets easily. Wozniak lured Kibuishi to Herr's apartment, where he shot and killed her. Euphoria Star Sydney Sweeneys White Hot Bikini Is Out of Control, Sydney Sweeney, Algee Smith, Euphoria, image: courtesy of HBO, 2012-2023, 2paragraphs Productions, LLC. Neither woman was. Blea's wife and daughter claimed to have found jewelry and female underwear that didn't belong to them in their home, and police confirmed this after they searched his home eight months into the West Mesa investigation. [19][21], 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. nexgard. helps people find coverage options based on their budget. -good luck, everybody. Or, died from other indirect causes, including assault, abuse, or homicide, prior to being funeralized; preped for burial? The police are asking for the public's help to identify the women. >> i came out here looking for my cousin, and i bumped into cinnamon, and she had told me that -- that the girls were getting their heads cut off and tooken to the mesa. Evelyn Salazar disappeared in the spring of 2004 with her 15-year-old cousin Jamie Barela after police said they went to a park together. a detective named ida lopez. their lifestyle has been with drugs. >> she ran up ahead of me, and she was messing with something on the ground. Ive been looking for a cast on yhis case. Annette Gutirrez-Millspaugh shared with us that nobody had ever solved the 1982 murder of Father Reynaldo Rivera. >> missing persons is kind of a backwater in a lot of departments. >> yeah. Although Montoya fit the description, the West Mesa serial killer remains unidentified. hoping that hers had not. 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. >> a lot of people said they were drug addicts and prostitutes. the development at first, the housing downturn, after that the fact the company leaves, a big rainstorm comes, unearths certain things, and now we locate these victims. ", "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. "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. all you can do is bring them up, nurture them, show them love, attention, appreciation. Wozniak was deeply in debt and wanted money to finance his upcoming wedding and honeymoon. >> this in a way suggests that maybe there are women out there who aren't on any list. >> there's a dad who had a calendar. >> and i had to tell dan. >> reporter: it would become a close working relationship based on frequent phone calls and mutual admiration. We'll do better next time, I promise! >> i find a girl with the same background. there were whole bunches of them. The toddler peddled a small trike across the couple's driveway and out of view of the camera as Mesaa . >> so you get lucky. 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. and by the summer of 2009 the fbi and the city of albuquerque were offering $100,000 to anyone who could help them catch and convict the man responsible for killing the west mesa women. >> where was i the night before? [26][27] 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". now that's simple, easy, awesome. >> we all had a common denominator. Albuquerqueans dont relate to the victims. >> reporter: they strolled out of her new subdivision, one of many that had recently sprouted up in the desert west of albuquerque, and then over to an abandon construction site, where christine let ruca off the leash to run. after years of having only her rap sheet and her father's bittersweet memories to go on, ida lopez was now sure she knew where michelle valdez was. [8][9], After repeatedly lying to police, Wozniak finally confessed. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Police also saw him stalking sex workers after the West Mesa murders. i sat in many waiting rooms, and i said, i don't want to know what their sessions were about. >> 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.