Resolved NM - Bones found in Albuquerque's West Mesa, July 2018

[Gardener1850]

July 03, 2018 01:29 PM

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.- Albuquerque police are investigating bones found on Albuquerque's west mesa.

They were discovered Tuesday, near 118th and Dennis Chavez. Police still have not said if the bones are human remains.

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller showed up to the scene to be briefed on the situation.

Tuesday's discovery is in the same area where the remains of 11 women were found in 2009. It's still too early to know if there is any connection between Tuesday's discovery and the 2009 case, which remains unsolved.

APD: Bones found on Albuquerque's West Mesa

 

[MicheleT]

"Tuesday's discovery is in the same area where the remains of 11 women were found in 2009. It's still too early to know if there is any connection between Tuesday's discovery and the 2009 case, which remains unsolved."

Of course this is what they say, but I'm sure everyone is thinking it.

 

[emmet]

APD: Possible human remains found near West Mesa burial site Albuquerque Journal
--
Workers with the Franklin Construction Company who found the bones buried about a foot deep Tuesday immediately contacted police and were told to stop digging.

Albuquerque Police Chief Michael Geier said one set of remains was visible, but the area hasn’t been excavated. He didn’t say what gender the person was and didn’t yet know if there was clothing or other items found.

“We’ll do site analysis, we’ll do site excavation,” he said.
--
West Mesa murders - Wikipedia

 

[Gardener1850]

"We’re not 100% sure that this is related but at this point. We’re treating it as if it's similar, to the first round," said Chief Geier.

Chief Michael Geier was one of the lead investigators on the West Mesa bodies case.

Geier said investigators will do the same as they did in 2009; site analysis, excavation, as well as DNA analysis.

"We do have samples from the original case, of the girls that were still believed possibly could have been a part of it at that time. We’ll do a thorough investigation. We never actually let it go to rest," Geier said.

APD: Bones found on Albuquerque's West Mesa

 

[Gardener1850]

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —

A construction crew discovered remains that could possibly be tied to one of the state’s biggest unsolved murder cases.
Albuquerque police said the crew found possible human remains in the area near 118th Street and Cenote Road SW and immediately contacted officers.
“We certainly understand and are concerned this might be one of the six to eight missing women from the original Westside group. However, there’s no way we can confirm that at this time,” Mayor Tim Keller said.

In 2009, 11 bodies and a fetus were found in the same area after a tip to police. Authorities say nearly all the dead women worked as prostitutes before they disappeared between 2003 and early 2005.

Police Chief Mike Geier said the photos of the bones found Tuesday look like human remains.

Read more: Remains discovered near West Mesa memorial site

 

[emmet]

A shopkeeper I once knew was of grave interest to LE in the West Mesa case - though officially cleared I have waited to see if the investigation would spark back up. And if it did, whether his name would wind its way to the news again.

We shall see.

 

[Gardener1850]

Investigators have said that nearly all the West Mesa victims, who were between the ages of 15 and 32, worked as prostitutes before they disappeared between 2003 and 2005. According to the Albuquerque Journal, police have said there may be a second burial site after more women with similar backgrounds disappeared in 2005 and 2006.

"It looks like a burial," he said. "There's enough there to cause concern."

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller told reporters a small stream used to run between the first burial site and the area where the remains were found Tuesday. He added that construction crews working in the area had been told for years to keep an eye out for human remains.

"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.

BBM. Read more at link:
Bones found in New Mexico may be linked to unsolved killings, burials of 11 women

 

[Maia_1011]

After watching ‘The Killing Season” it’s awful hearing this, although expected.

We know there’s more victims.

 

[Gardener1850]

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) - - Crews building a park in the middle of a neighborhood uncovered bones Tuesday.

It's just a quarter-mile away from the burial site of the west mesa murder victims.

Albuquerque Police say they're treating the area as a crime scene and will have an officer out there for the next few days.

In the meantime, they can't continue to dig until they get the "ok" from the utility companies.

KRQE News 13 also spoke to the family of one of the west mesa murder victims, who says when they heard the news it took them back to 10 years ago.

APD says in the next few days they will also start to review satellite imaging of the land where they body was found -- just like they did nearly 10 years ago with the first burial site.

While police have not arrested anyone, there are two prime suspects in the case -- Lorenzo Montoya and Joseph Blea.

Montoya strangled a prostitute at his home, then was shot to death by the woman's pimp. 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.

Human remains found on Albuquerque's West Mesa

 

[Gardener1850]

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.

Discovery near mass gravesite leads to fears of more victims in unsolved serial killings

 

[enter_a_name]

I think this was part of the Killing Season, but remember there were two ladies who worked for a domestic abuse nonprofit who thought they identified a potential second burial site? If I recall correctly, they were using satellite topography to see where there were similar changes to the landscape.

They had a student from UNM come and test an area with radar or something to see if there might be something buried in the spot. The evidence they collected was pretty compelling but APD would never look into it.

Anyway, I wonder if the location the new remains were found in is the site they previously identified. It will be interesting to see!

 

[enter_a_name]

Sorry all for the back-to-back posts, but I have been trying to figure out the six remaining women on Ida Lopez's missing list.

Feel free to chime in if I'm incorrect or missing someone:

Anna Vigil 20, missing since January 21, 2005
Felipa Victoria Gonzales 25, missing since May 01, 2005
Nina Brenda Herron 21, missing since May 14, 2005
Shawntell Waites 31, missing since January 02, 2006
Leah Rochelle Peebles 23, missing since May 22, 2006
Vanessa Reed 24, missing since June 13, 2006​

Hoping for closure for their families.

 

[MicheleT]

Not sure there is any new information in this one.
Discovery near mass gravesite leads to fears of more victims in unsolved serial killings

 

[watcher9]

Not sure there is any new information in this one.
Discovery near mass gravesite leads to fears of more victims in unsolved serial killings

I came to post a link to the same article you just posted.

 

[Gardener1850]

Police have said they were looking into whether the discovery could be related to the unsolved West Mesa Murders case.
But a team of archaeologists had also been digging in the park just a few years earlier. They researched a 1,000-year-old food-storage pit, a campsite and pottery fragments found there in 2015.

Matt Schmader, an archeologist on the dig, said it’s possible the remains found Tuesday are historical.

“When I heard those bones were there I went ‘Man, I just can’t believe we were so close.’ It was just the wrong part of the site,” he said.

The Office of the Medical Investigator has the final say. Investigators are analyzing the bones, but haven’t offered any details about age or gender or how long the bones may have been in the ground. A spokeswoman for OMI didn’t return a phone call Thursday.

Read more: West Mesa park where remains found Tuesday was site of 1,000-year-old archaeological find

 

[Gardener1850]

Simon Drobik, a spokesman for the Albuquerque Police Department, said the bones discovered this week were found without clothing.

That’s congruent with evidence in the West Mesa Murders case. The 11 West Mesa victims were buried naked.
Cenote Road SW, which marks the park’s southern boundary, will be blocked off while investigators sift through the dirt lot. That could take a while.

Workers with PNM spent the 4th of July marking off power lines in the area. On Thursday, the dig began in earnest.

Drobik said one investigator is shoveling up dirt, while another sifts through each shovelful.

“We’re doing it shovel by shovel,” Drobik said.

Investigators have areas of interest marked off and will figure out how much digging they need to do based on what they find.

“It’s going to be very slow and methodical,” Drobik said. “There’s no end date.”

West Mesa park where remains found Tuesday was site of 1,000-year-old archaeological find

 

[Gardener1850]

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The human bones unearthed by a construction crew on the West Mesa this week are not connected to the still-unsolved murders of several women and an unborn child found in a nearby area in 2009, officials said Friday.

According to the Office of the Medical Investigator, the remains found near 118th Street and Dennis Chavez Boulevard belong to ancient Native Americans and are associated with a 1,000-year-old archaeological dig. Digging at the site had stopped on Friday.

OMI officials added the state archaeologist will now be in charge of finding and removing any other remains for "appropriate reburial."

OMI: Remains found near West Mesa Murders burial site are ancient, not connected to unsolved case

 

[Gardener1850]

False alarm.

Despite much speculation, the human remains found at an undeveloped West Mesa park Tuesday are not connected to New Mexico’s largest unsolved serial killing case.

They are ancient Native American bones likely from between the years 1100 and 1300, according to the Office of the Medical Investigator, the agency that investigates deaths in New Mexico.

Read more: Bones found on West Mesa are ancient, not connected to serial murder case