[7], Soon after, Wozniak was apprehended by US Marshals while at his bachelor party two days before his wedding. 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. but if one of them had during the 2003 or 2004 festivals, they might have actually seen evidence of a murderer moonlighting as a grave digger. >> reporter: this michelle according to her sister camille was an all-american girl with a future as bright as the new mexico sun. when they looked at old pictures of the mesa. but you know what? >> i would tell them every single day we're one day closer to finding your daughter. that dares to last into the morning. No one noticed they were gone.. >> reporter: sticking up for victims comes naturally to ida lopez. The police are reportedly willing to reward $100,000 to anybody who provides information on the West Mesa murders. and she said -- she went up to put her arms around me, and i hugged her. >> 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. 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. dateline west mesa murders. >> reporter: it would take more than diligent detective work to find those answers. The special will include exclusive interviews with 28-year-old Chambers . it's not the call girl. Or contact APD at 1-877-765-8273 or (505) 768-2450. read more no fingerprints. >> 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. The last segment of last night's two-hour exploration of the West Mesa serial murders on NBC's Dateline reviewed the search warrants executed by the Albuquerque and Joplin police departments and the FBI of properties owned by Joplin businessman Ron Erwin. what if the west mesa grave digger was a prolific transient? the killer, whoever he was, and police naturally assumed the killer was male, had a five-year head start. >> the xs indicating no -- no knowledge of her, disappeared, nothing.ledi no word. you know, we could chase them out, but for me there was always a story to them. Detective Ida Lopez's dedication to finding these missing women is admirable. i enjoyed it. love for your gut. she'd come over and steal my things or, you know, i would se' how upset it would make my dad. our daughters. everything was in a pretty contained area. the hard part was that many of them had already been missing for more than a year before ida even had a chance to start looking. michelle's little girl angelica was now the center of attention. that. >> and the man in the car was? >> several of these victims were missing for months before anyone reported them missing. that changed when michelle failed to show up for angelica's seventh birthday party. jane doe number 8 was michelle valdez. now that's simple, easy, awesome. i said it's michelle valdez. >> it had to be brutally difficult to think of michelle living that kind of life. >> 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. and then three. dan tried to keep a watchful eye on his girls and even took them to work with him at the juvenile detention center to show them on where careless mistakes can lead. An arrest was made in April 2020, but more people were likely involved. nine. >> no.n' not at all. 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. believe it! >> could never trace it back. we had to utilize the joplin police department. [1] Police have also suspected the involvement of a sex trafficking ring operating through neighboring Texas that targets sex workers 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. They may have been OD's? >> i know 100% that my daughter is not alive. Her daughter had found womens clothing and jewelry in their home, with some families later revealing that the victims jewelry was missing. In 2014, a breakthrough on a decades-old case caused Albuquerque police to become interested in Joseph Blea as a suspect for the murders. they use stamps.com all the services of the post office only cheaper get a 4-week trial plus postage and a digital scale go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again. and that didn't take that part away, that she was still somebody's little girl. >> oh, yeah. >> yes. at 13 michelle became pregnant. >> i needed to know where they were all the time. protection. The former fiance of a California theater actor who murdered an Afghanistan War veteran and his friend in 2010 was convicted Wednesday of lying to police in an attempt to protect him from. had been booked. For example, the case of serial killer Ted Bundy, who killed 36 women in Washington state in the 1970s, received loads of media attention, and Bundy's name is well-known. but he saw his daughter. There is a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible. activia. [8][9], After repeatedly lying to police, Wozniak finally confessed. Only one signficant discovery was made along the way, which is that they were all murdered. The process repeated itself in more or less the same way about five years later. -oh, a plaque. so she did what every good detective does. Police budgets are stretched thin. >> the reality is it was kind of like this is not happening. 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. >> fbi agents also searched this home. their customers. and there's a foot chase. Both had disappeared after walking to a local park in 2004. it was a bit of frontier justice for montoya, who was about to literally get away with murder. Theres a sense of physical remoteness this place was very removed, said University of New Mexico professor Dirk Gibson, who has written two books on serial killers. >> if you find one, you're going to find them all. they pick up a lot of girls. 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. "You have to know people, their names and what they look like to know people are missing," she said. podcast: Casefile True Crime. oh, i've had 17. i've been choked. and i remember telling him no. southwestern summer heat begins to ease hot air balloons rise like spring flowers over albuquerque and the surrounding desert. >> she knew that there was events at the house because she'd call and ask if she could borrow $25, she was hungry or whatever. >> when they told us that they had a young black girl, i thought, i didn't have a young black girl on my list. it's fast itch relief. YouTube/KOATA makeshift memorial for the 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. Valdez was pregnant at the time of her death and her . 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. >> well, just a few minutes ago albuquerque police left the dig site after they say they'd met all of the goals that they set. you know, i was always the tag-along with her and her friends. short lady. Summary: Josh Mankiewicz puts the focus on the mysteries surrounding the West Mesa Murders, an unsolved case of 11 female bodies discovered in a desert graveyard near Albuquerque in 2009. from the moment the west mesa murder case landed in their laps, detectives knew they would be chasing a phantom and grasping at smoke. within weeks of starting her new job, ida was handed two missing persons files. a camera might figure it out. not at all. because savings is as savings does. Albuquerque detective Ida Lopez took it upon herself to uncover the story behind the remains of 11 women and an unborn fetus, which were discovered over 13 years ago, buried in shallow graves in a West Mesa desert. [ soft piano music playing ] mm, uh, what do you do for fun? but is it true? and i don't have phone records. there could be very realistically a lot of bodies. when had i last seen her? Reported missing between 2001 and 2005, they ranged in age from 15 to 32. >> reporter: as you will soon see, timing, both perfect and not so perfect, will play a critical part in the story we're about to show you. 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. backing you. 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. Police also saw him stalking sex workers after the West Mesa murders. After more than five years of court proceedings, Wozniak went to trial and was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder. I think there's a Disappeared episode relating to it as well. On . >> there's nothing to connect lorenzo montoya to those 11 bodies? it was all just unverifiable street talk, the kind ida lopez had heard before. on the Internet. 's criminal investigations unit, says the department chased leads all over the country, from texas, where a woman with profile similar to those of the west mesa women-v also gone missing. >> reporter: many who lost friends and relatives to the west mesa grave digger are convinced there could still be someone somewhere who knows something. Police on Long Island, New York, have released the name of a previously unidentified victim linked to the notorious Gilgo Beach murders. An unsolved murder case has haunted the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico for more than a decade. make febreze part of your clean routine for whole home freshness. | Dr. Phil", "Dr. Phil | Actress Accused: Was She an Accessory to Murder? Dubbed the West Mesa Murders, they sparked a frenzy of investigations, interrogations, and media attention, but despite the best efforts of police to bring whoever was responsible to justice, the crimes remain unsolved to this day. >> what about those last seven girls? Still, authorities have not given up. he has pics of you on his phone. those two files would mark the beginning of the biggest case in her career and would turn into pabarmis.markintos most heinouy crime stories. every fall as the. >> reporter: for detectives like todd babcock it all seemed to add up. [9] Police confirmed that they had cleared Erwin as a suspect. There has been very little publicity. nexgard. i used to live actually behind there when i was in college. apoquel is for the control of itch associated with allergic dermatitis and the control of atopic dermatitis in dogs. But most of the other victims vanished with even fewer details. if you are taking asthma medicines, do not change or stop your asthma medicine without talking to your doctor. "They did an excellent job with our West Mesa murders," said Sgt. >> looking at everybody. A&E reported how the group burial had all the hallmarks of a serial killer's actions.According to the Associated Press, February 2, 2022, marked the 13th . do you need anything? Dateline - NBC.com Compelling mysteries, powerful documentaries, in-depth investigations. She was convinced he was the West Mesa killer. Almost no media coverage and the killer was never caught. Valdez disappeared from Albuquerque, New Mexico on September 22, 2004. >> reporter: by the end of 2005 ida had five women on her list who were roughly the same age with similar backgrounds. and i said, you know, what are you talking about? >> so this guy takes photographs of the part of town that you're sort of looking at. >> i just always felt that they were going to be together. There is a reward of up. but one name stood out. it was a time when a sinister force seemed to be snatching women off the streets of new mexico's largest city. the news media had shown little interest in the story when desperate family members had come to them asking for help. Thats why the West Mesa killer was able to do it, she said Christine Barber, the head of Safe Streets New Mexico, a non-profit that helps get women off the streets. and was he still at work? Gilbert Gallegos, an Albuquerque police spokesman, said detectives receive hundreds of tips in the case each year, and continue to follow different leads while retesting evidence as DNA and other investigative technology advances. >> 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. was a serial killer stalking the women working the war zone? >> tough questions for her boyfriend. >> police have set up a tip line. Genre (s): Talk & Interview, Business, News, Documentary, Events & Specials Season 19 Episodes tbd S19:E72. 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. >> reporter: caught between the pressure to keep the public informed and the need to prevent key details from leaking out to cranks and copycats who routinely clogged tip lines, commander feist found himself scheduling sensitive excavation, work in the off hours, when he knew cameras would not be looking over his shoulder. that christmas angelica opened her presents alone, with no sign of her mother michelle. ROBERT BROWMAN. West Mesa Murders satellite photos show the undeveloped land where the victims were discovered. >> i saw it on tv on february 2nd, when christina ross and her dog ruca was reported on the. it's unlikely that any of the balloonists who float out over the west mesa area spend much time studying the details of the sandy desert floor below. some passed on grisly rumors to ida, that the missing women were dead and had been dumped in the desert west of town. a restless night's sleep. 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. clustered within 20 yards of each other. Tonight's episode of Dateline: Unforgettable Season 2 will have Josh Mankiewicz narrate the story of the dedicated detective Ida Lopez, who is still working on these decade-old cases to help the victims and their families find some form of justice. thank you. who got an awful skin condition. Happy New Year! She took a picture and messaged her sister, a registered nurse who confirmed that it was. >> a third one. it recommends our best custom fit orthotic to relieve foot, knee, or lower back pain. or whatever, see somebody that may appear to be the size of michelle, a small person, and go around the block two or three times and me wondering who they were as well as them wondering who i was. this date's lame. 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." soon could be months. after months of digging for bones in the desert west of albuquerque, detectives desperately wanted to get on with the work of catching a killer. i'm supposed to be in ceramics. He had actually had over 100 encounters with police in the two decades preceding the discovery of the West Mesa murder victims. / CBS Colorado. A subreddit dedicated to the unresolved mysteries of the world. >> february 2nd is when one of our violent crimes detectives said oh, they found a bone on the mesa, i'll let you know. let's exchange phone numbers. it was comforting that it didn't just happen to me. bill's back needed a afvacation from his vacation. they deal with all kinds. 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. with the investigation now focused on finding a serial killer, ida thought back to her late-night chats with the women of the war zone. >> then in february 2009 came unsettling news. probably familiar with the prostitution trade. >> so at one point at least you're sort of looking at truckers. stop dancing around the pain your home and auto that keeps you up again, and again. but it was what had happened next that really focused the detectives' attention. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. >> reporter: no. so why am i still thinking about this? web pages that's why we're staying with homicidal violence. any trucker initiatives or murderers that the fbi sent us we posted on the wall. i'm sorry, i think you mean roses. The serial murders of 11 women in the West Mesa area of Albuquerque will be featured in a two-hour edition of NBC's Dateline tonight. >> there could be somebody up there right now. >> you don't remember the last, thing you said to her? In a 2013 interview, Ray Schultz said there was a "conscious shift" in the Albuquerque Police Department to take prostitutes more seriously. but i just have to keep believing that today could be the day, today could be the day. a meticulous man whose grim will had brought him back to the mesa again and again to bury his victims. born to move. (NBC) "Dateline NBC" will air a two-hour special Friday on the latest in the investigation into the murders of the University of Idaho students Ethan . 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. >> the majority of our girls were street-level prostitutes. there's no way. "he later navigated northward, leaving progressive can't protect you from becoming your parents. ready, set, go. 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. they can be. there was no shortage of names on the police list of potential suspects who were capable of that. a thigh bone had been found out on albuquerque's west mesa. >> 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. To this day, the case remains unsolved. Ross walked her dog, Ruca, along along a dried-out wash in Albuquerque, New Mexico. 2015. Jamie Barela, 15 - Jamie was not involved with drugs or sex work like the other ten victims. so you feel refreshed. and nights and weekends playing steel guitar with his country band, cimarron. do not use if you are allergic to dupixent. -or maybe he didn't know. Updated: Jan 13, 2023 / 01:45 PM EST. >> like?wr >> the drugs. YouTube/KOATThe West Mesa murders have yet to be solved. Ive been looking for a cast on yhis case. >> reporter: ida says the stories she heard back then were heartbreaking tales of abuse and neglect that almost always had drugs at their core. -yeah. She said the organization also will highlight the continued struggles of women living on the margins. with uncontrolled moderate-to-severe eczema, or atopic dermatitis, you feel like you're itching all the time. tw >> reporter: the toll of michelle's addiction on her t younger sister camille is also evident in dan's videos.il as camille becomes a teenager, she no longer seems to want to acknowledge michelle or even have her around.