>> 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. Although Montoya fit the description, the West Mesa serial killer remains unidentified. >> so you were being a father all over again. >> at one point syllania had been arrested up in the denver area for prostitution, going by a different name at the time. >> was it possible ida lopez's list was just the tip of the iceberg? and she said -- she went up to put her arms around me, and i hugged her. and it was here while posing as a decoy during prostitution sting operations that she learned the raw power of their addictions. Police have offered a $100,000 reward for anyone offering evidence leading to the discovery of the person the media came to call the West Mesa Bone Collector. see a vehicle pick this girl up. 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. - Investigation Discovery", "93 - Live At The Grove In Anaheim My Favorite Murder With Karen Kilgariff And Georgia Hardstark podcast", "20/20: 'The Final Act' Watch Full Episode", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Daniel_Wozniak_(murderer)&oldid=1142204623, Prisoners sentenced to death by California, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2022, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2018, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 02:21. Theres so little money, and there are so many crimes. >> and sometimes they make the i wrong turn or a mistake.ke >> reporter: shortly after her . >> all six sets of remains were found within 20 yards of each other. The police are reportedly willing to reward $100,000 to anybody who provides information on the West Mesa murders. Syllania Edwards, a 15-year-old runaway from Lawton, Oklahoma, was the only African American, and the only victim from out of state. according to the website, she'd been a 13-year-old runaway from a group home in lawton, oklahoma in 2003. and that's what we're trying to figure out. Or, died from other indirect causes, including assault, abuse, or homicide, prior to being funeralized; preped for burial? >> reporter: nine months after the discovery of the first bone on the west mesa the detectives were back to square one. The upcoming episode, titled Somebody's Daughter, will air on Oxygen on Tuesday, July 12, at 8:00 PM ET. and there's a foot chase. So she took a picture of it and texted her sister. >> i think it's somebody who's very organized. >> reporter: now investigators feared the serial killer they were hunting may have buried other bodies elsewhere in the vast desert west of town. When her boyfriend arrived, he shot and killed Montoya. but that's not the -- that's not what he saw in his eyes, or his heart. for the moments that mattered most to her daughter, angelica. 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. >> 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. >> correct. maybe it was me not letting her come back to the house. >> reporter: for detectives like todd babcock it all seemed to add up. gave her 20 bucks. TV Archive >> we believe that's him. Prosecutors said Carballo killed him out of revenge for the murder of her husband, Orlando Mesa. that's all we really wanted, just to flash her picture real quick. i had to take that avenue. anybody that was arrested for prostitution, criminal solicitation, anything like. Both had disappeared after walking to a local park in 2004. they had ties to albuquerque. so you can move more. >> he's in the area where the prostitutes frequent. 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. but since he bought his house are you going 45? >> reporter: but as erratic as michelle had become in recent years, she'd somehow always managed to show up. 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 that was represented in the sketch. that the chin was specific for me. (vo) automatically sort your expenses and save over 40 hours a month. career. >> 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. Detective Ida Lopez's dedication to finding these missing women is admirable. >> reporter: dan immediately called detective ida lopez with the tip. [7], Soon after, Wozniak was apprehended by US Marshals while at his bachelor party two days before his wedding. Josh Mankiewicz reports from New Mexico. i've been beat. get $100 back when you bring in an eligible phone. and it's almost frustrating because you look at this picture, and you see the disturbed earth which later we learned are grave sites, and you see the tire tracks. and then as the months go by, wi search more and find that there are, you know, maybe another one here, then another one there, and that sort of thing. -yeah. a meticulous man whose grim will had brought him back to the mesa again and again to bury his victims. >> the reality, it was kind of, like this is not happening. 13 years later, Albuquerque Police have never officially or publicly named suspects in the case. >> reporter: oddly enough, the west mesa investigators' good fortune began thousands of miles to the east, in the fall of 2008. that's when crumbling financial markets on wall street caused home construction on the west mesa to grind to a halt. 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. >> but it might not have been a nice thing? was a serial killer stalking the women working the war zone? valdez had been virtually invisible to everyone in albuquerque. every life is a mystery. than tylenol extra strength. but you know what? The mysteries surrounding the West Mesa Murders, an unsolved case of 11 female bodies discovered in a desert graveyard near Albuquerque in 2009. so, let's make this the summer of loving your gut. every morning the sunrises over the sandia mountains east of albuquerque and begins baking one of the most celebrated stretches of asphalt in the united states -- historic route 66, the highway famous for carrying dust bowl refugees and beat generation oddballs west to california. >> and she didn't mind? there's a better choice. Wozniak was deeply in debt and wanted money to finance his upcoming wedding and honeymoon. >> did you ask her where she heard that? a name and face detective babcock knew quite well from an encounter in 1999, when babcock was working the vice unit in albuquerque. ", "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. her name was syllania edwards. 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 thoughts of rare moments together before she went missing. this photo, taken the following year, shows even more bare spots. She was from Lawton, Oklahoma, and was reportedly last seen in Denver, police said. some of it seemed to take. 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. Many of the victims' families reported them missing years earlier. how did she get to albuquerque? 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 mean $9000! i said, "detective lopez just told us that your mother has been positively i.d. >> she was on your list. and most of these boxes were returned. >> reporter: when christine ross decided to take her dog ruca for a walk. never heard of her before. >> sit. do not use in breeding, pregnant or lactating dogs. but knew it was reality. West Mesa Bone Collector - ArcGIS StoryMaps Paige Birgfeld, 34, was a well-liked . While the FBI created suspect profiles, Albuquerque police knocked on doors. any signs that the women knew each other. paws down. >> several of these victims were missing for months before anyone reported them missing. This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17 U.S. Code). NEW MEXICO: It took police a year to identify the remains of 11 women killed in the West Mesa Murders, but they still haven't identified the killer. Four crime scenes, thirty-two gunshot wounds, eight members of the Rhoden family left dead in their homes. They had picked him up in 1998 when he offered an undercover cop $40 for sex. >> reporter: sticking up for victims comes naturally to ida lopez. and i'm in the porch area. Valdez disappeared from Albuquerque, New Mexico on September 22, 2004. >> it had to be brutally difficult to think of michelle living that kind of life. a.p. 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. and if they weren't on the mesa, where were they? Combing the undeveloped West Mesa near 118th Street SW, detectives spent weeks uncovering all 11 graves. and i said, look, i'm not running you. >> reporter: it was in denver, another city on the circuit, that detective todd babcock hit paydirt. with uncontrolled moderate-to-severe eczema, or atopic dermatitis, you feel like you're itching all the time. Theories? 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. According to Dateline NBC's website, the episode entitled "Plot Twist," will include new details in the high profile murder case. >> when they told us that they had a young black girl, i thought, i didn't have a black girl on my list. when a stolen car rap in arizona landed michelle in jail, dan says he bailed her out and pleaded with her to change her ways. if you don't have faith in your law enforcement to treat everybody equal, then what do you have? here, hello! She released her statement through Young Women United, a nonprofit where she helps with programs geared toward assisting women in need. Albuquerqueans dont relate to the victims. >> he may be waiting in some other community to start doing the same thing again. >> i thought she was alive and well and doing good but just didn't want to have any contact with the family. The West Mesa murders have yet to be solved. >> reporter: by mid april, after 2 1/2 months of intensive searching, mapping, and aerial photography, commander feist finally felt confident that his team had found all the bones there were to find and began shutting down the west mesa crime scene. There's no question Stephen did it: But was he. "It appears that some of the women may be unconscious, again we . 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. >> reporter: mostly she just watched it grow. it recommends our best custom fit orthotic to relieve foot, knee, or lower back pain. if you are taking asthma medicines, do not change or stop your asthma medicine without talking to your doctor. it's where they needed somebody, and it worked out, you know, for me. I watched that Dateline Re-Run last night. 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. it was not the way that her mother and i raised her. >> there used to be a motel here. could be others. >> you think she came here on her own? However, the Albuquerque Police Department refuses to lose all hope and continues working on it with whatever leads they have. >> then about a month and a half after i was diagnosed, then i had my kidney removed. the killer, whoever he was, and police naturally assumed the killer was male, had a five-year head start. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. >> and just depending on where they're at, you wouldn't even see them up there. [ camera clicking ] wifi up there? ask your veterinarian about apoquel today. and for them. only activia has billions of our live and active probiotics. i've been -- you know, i've been raped a number of times. Casefile True Crime. Photo Source >> i did. not at all. and the baby. After neighbors complained of flooding at the platted site (due to the burial of the natural arroyo), the developer built a retaining wall to channel storm water to a retention pond built in the approximate area of the burial site, inadvertently exposing bones to the surface. It's awful what happened to them," Myra Salazar, the mother of 27-year-old victim Evelyn Salazar, said in a statement. If you have any information about the West Mesa murders, or about other missing women related to this case, Albuquerque Police have a dedicated hotline. | Dr. Phil", "Dr. Phil | Actress Accused: Was She an Accessory to Murder? But most of the other victims vanished with even fewer details. According to the Albuquerque Journal, Blea was no stranger to the parts of the city where sex work is known to take place. >> police have set up a tip line. About Dateline: Secrets Uncovered. and that was the last time i seen cinnamon. 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. 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. >> she searched for the innocent. >> reporter: but some do. When the police confronted the boy, they were told by the boy that Wozniak had asked him to withdraw the money for him. A life long resident of Albuq., NM. >> it gathered a lot of attention because we had to utilize the fbi. and there were certain processes that it did pose a concern. >> no. thank you. Dateline: Unforgettable - NBC.com >> whatever the killer's permanent address, those satellite photos were a huge break because they told police. babcock says he saw marks on the woman's throat and that she told him montoya looked like he was enjoying it. starts help healwith -hi!mplewithin. a thigh bone had been found out on albuquerque's west mesa. However, two names have been widely. to find out commander mike geyer, head of the albuquerque p.d. it's not the call girl. Paleontologists In China Just Discovered A Prehistoric Egg Fossil From A Nearly Human-Sized Turtle With A Baby Inside, How A 200 Pound Order Of Meat And A Nosy Upstate Cop Nearly Vanquished The American Mob, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. (danny) every day you're nearly fried to a crisp, professionally! Almost no media coverage and the killer was never caught. The graves held the remains of two teens and nine adults, one of whom, 22-year-old Gina Michelle Valdez, was four months pregnant when she died. Going to listen. In 2014, a breakthrough on a decades-old case caused Albuquerque police to become interested in Joseph Blea as a suspect for the murders. By 2016, only one detective remained full-time on the case: Mark Marany. West Mesa Serial Killer Photos.