The following content contains disturbing accounts of violence, including sexual violence. Discretion is advised.
Veronica Romero was funny and intelligent. Victoria Chavez loved the outdoors. Michelle Valdez could energize a room with her smile.
Along with six other young women and two teenage girls, they were brutally murdered in the early s and buried in the New Mexico desert. Fears of a serial killer rocked the city as police uncovered the skeletal remains of 11 females and an unborn child. Yet 15 years later, the identity of the killer, dubbed the West Mesa Bone Collector, remains a mystery. All but one of the victims, year-old Jamie Barela, had ties to sex work and struggled with drug addiction, according to the Albuquerque Police Department.
At least 19 women and teens vanished from the streets of Albuquerque from through , and eight are still missing. The 11 West Mesa victims were killed between and and buried near an area that was being developed for homes, authorities said.
Police worked with archeologists to painstakingly excavate the bodies. Experts used dental records and DNA samples to identify the victims. One rare piece of physical evidence was a plant tag found near a body that pointed to suspect Joseph Blea, who worked in landscaping, he says. Authorities have speculated the victims were strangled.
