Basement
2020-12-07 00:25:06 UTC
They're going to get you Eddie!
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Albuquerque police are investigating whether
bones discovered Tuesday in an area where 11 women were found
buried nearly a decade ago are human remains a development
that has sparked fears that there may have been more victims in
an unsolved serial killing that has haunted the city.
Construction workers building a park discovered the bones on the
city's West Mesa, police said, a quarter mile from a mass grave
where the remains were unearthed in 2009 after a woman walking
her dog found a large bone protruding from the dirt.
The case remains unsolved, with no arrests.
Authorities have said nearly all the dead women, one of whom was
pregnant, worked as prostitutes before they disappeared between
2003 and early 2005. At least six other missing women are
believed to be linked to the case, according to police.
The area will be excavated and bones and other remains will be
analyzed and tested a process that could take months, police
Chief Michael Geier said.
"We're not 100 percent sure that this is related but at this
point we're treating it as if its similar, to the first round,"
Geier told reporters at a news conference.
Geier was the lead investigator on the serial killing case
before he became police chief, CBS affiliate KRQE reports.
"It's definitely a little bit of deja vu - it looks different,
but it feels the same," Geier said.
Mayor Tim Keller said crews working at the site had been trained
to look for remains and immediately contacted authorities when
the bones were discovered.
"This has been an archaeological area as well," Keller said.
"So, we certainly understand and are very concerned this might
be one of the missing six to eight women from the original West
Side group. However, there's no way we can confirm that at this
time."
In a statement, Albuquerque City Councilor Klarissa Peña said
the bones were found at a park being built near the site of a
memorial for the women and unborn child found buried on West
Mesa.
"I am saddened at the tragic loss of human life, and at the
thought that yet another family has had to endure years of
uncertainty and pain not knowing where their loved one was,"
Peña said.
Though no one has ever been charged, KRQE reports there are two
prime suspects in the case -- Lorenzo Montoya and Joseph Blea.
Montoya strangled a prostitute at his home, about a mile away
from the burial site, then was shot to death by the woman's pimp
as he was moving the woman's body to a car. The murders stopped
after he was killed.
Blea, a serial rapist, was sentenced to 90 years in prison after
DNA linked him to attacks on middle school girls in the 80s and
90s.
The victims include Jamie Barela, a 15-year-old who was last
seen by her family in 2004. Buried with her were Syllannia
Edwards, 15, a runaway from Lawton, Oklahoma, and Michelle
Valdez, 22, who was pregnant.
The killings are called the "West Mesa murders" because the
bodies were buried on the west side of Albuquerque.
Julie Gonzales, the sister of murder victim Doreen Marquez, told
KRQE the development made her "heart pound.""
"It just brings it all back. Back to day one. Ten years later,
back to day one. The digging, the finding, the scraping. It's
just like, 'wow,'" Gonzales said.
Neighbors told the station they have always expected that more
remains would be unearthed.
"The eeriest part to me is to know it's taken this long," one
said.
Police have received federal grant money to update their
technology systems to cross-reference information they get from
tips about the serial killings.
The city maintains a website about the case and a company has
printed cards featuring all 11 victims and encouraged businesses
to pass them out to keep the case in the public's eye.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/albuquerque-discovery-near-mass-
grave-leads-to-fears-of-more-victims-in-unsolved-serial-killings/
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Albuquerque police are investigating whether
bones discovered Tuesday in an area where 11 women were found
buried nearly a decade ago are human remains a development
that has sparked fears that there may have been more victims in
an unsolved serial killing that has haunted the city.
Construction workers building a park discovered the bones on the
city's West Mesa, police said, a quarter mile from a mass grave
where the remains were unearthed in 2009 after a woman walking
her dog found a large bone protruding from the dirt.
The case remains unsolved, with no arrests.
Authorities have said nearly all the dead women, one of whom was
pregnant, worked as prostitutes before they disappeared between
2003 and early 2005. At least six other missing women are
believed to be linked to the case, according to police.
The area will be excavated and bones and other remains will be
analyzed and tested a process that could take months, police
Chief Michael Geier said.
"We're not 100 percent sure that this is related but at this
point we're treating it as if its similar, to the first round,"
Geier told reporters at a news conference.
Geier was the lead investigator on the serial killing case
before he became police chief, CBS affiliate KRQE reports.
"It's definitely a little bit of deja vu - it looks different,
but it feels the same," Geier said.
Mayor Tim Keller said crews working at the site had been trained
to look for remains and immediately contacted authorities when
the bones were discovered.
"This has been an archaeological area as well," Keller said.
"So, we certainly understand and are very concerned this might
be one of the missing six to eight women from the original West
Side group. However, there's no way we can confirm that at this
time."
In a statement, Albuquerque City Councilor Klarissa Peña said
the bones were found at a park being built near the site of a
memorial for the women and unborn child found buried on West
Mesa.
"I am saddened at the tragic loss of human life, and at the
thought that yet another family has had to endure years of
uncertainty and pain not knowing where their loved one was,"
Peña said.
Though no one has ever been charged, KRQE reports there are two
prime suspects in the case -- Lorenzo Montoya and Joseph Blea.
Montoya strangled a prostitute at his home, about a mile away
from the burial site, then was shot to death by the woman's pimp
as he was moving the woman's body to a car. The murders stopped
after he was killed.
Blea, a serial rapist, was sentenced to 90 years in prison after
DNA linked him to attacks on middle school girls in the 80s and
90s.
The victims include Jamie Barela, a 15-year-old who was last
seen by her family in 2004. Buried with her were Syllannia
Edwards, 15, a runaway from Lawton, Oklahoma, and Michelle
Valdez, 22, who was pregnant.
The killings are called the "West Mesa murders" because the
bodies were buried on the west side of Albuquerque.
Julie Gonzales, the sister of murder victim Doreen Marquez, told
KRQE the development made her "heart pound.""
"It just brings it all back. Back to day one. Ten years later,
back to day one. The digging, the finding, the scraping. It's
just like, 'wow,'" Gonzales said.
Neighbors told the station they have always expected that more
remains would be unearthed.
"The eeriest part to me is to know it's taken this long," one
said.
Police have received federal grant money to update their
technology systems to cross-reference information they get from
tips about the serial killings.
The city maintains a website about the case and a company has
printed cards featuring all 11 victims and encouraged businesses
to pass them out to keep the case in the public's eye.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/albuquerque-discovery-near-mass-
grave-leads-to-fears-of-more-victims-in-unsolved-serial-killings/