The West Mesa Murders (West Mesa Bone Collector)

Case background and investigation

On February 2, 2009, a woman walking her dog on Albuquerque's undeveloped West Mesa discovered a human bone protruding from an earthen trail. The find triggered one of the largest crime-scene excavations in New Mexico history. Over the following weeks, investigators unearthed the skeletal remains of 11 women, along with those of an unborn child carried by one of the victims, all buried in makeshift graves in an arroyo on the city's far west side.

The victims had gone missing between roughly 2001 and 2005 and ranged in age from about 15 to 32. Most were Hispanic, and the majority were connected to sex work and struggled with drug addiction, factors that police believe made their disappearances less likely to be aggressively investigated at the time. Among the identified victims was Michelle Valdez, who had been pregnant; the remains of her fetus were recovered alongside her.

The unknown perpetrator earned the nickname the 'West Mesa Bone Collector.' Because the burials were estimated to have occurred years before the discovery, and because so much time had passed, investigators faced a difficult task in reconstructing the timeline and gathering physical evidence from the weathered desert site.

Detectives have named several persons of interest over the years but never charged anyone. One was Lorenzo Montoya, who lived near the burial ground and had a history of violence against sex workers; he was killed in December 2006 before the remains were found. Another was Joseph Blea, a convicted serial rapist with ties to the era and area; though he was imprisoned on unrelated charges, no evidence has publicly linked him conclusively to the West Mesa graves.

The case remains open and unsolved. Albuquerque police have kept a reward on offer for information, and concern persists that the killer may be responsible for additional victims, as a number of other women with similar backgrounds remain missing from the same period. In 2020, a memorial park honoring the victims opened at the site where their remains were found.