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This makeshift memorial has since been removed. Photo by Laura Paskus.
A year and a half after the first of eleven bodies was found on the West Mesa, it still remains quiet atop the mesa. A drill whirs in the distance and a low buzz flies off the high-tension wires running north-south through the sand and desert. There is nothing here to mark the edge of the city’s largest crime scene—save for some yellow police tape tangled into a pile of tumbleweeds, trash and thick, black plastic.
In February, 2009, a local woman walking her dog found a human femur poking from the soil within a swath of land being graded for a new KB Home development. Eventually, investigators excavated the bodies of 11 women who had been murdered, then buried in the desert. As the women’s bodies were found and identified, family members and friends created a makeshift shrine against the west wall of the planned development. It was a place where people could leave flowers, photos, crosses and rosaries, as well as stuffed animals and notes.
It took investigators more than a year to identify all the victims, but by now they have all been named. And it’s clear that Victoria Chavez, Gina Michelle Valdez, Cinnamon Elks, Julie Nieto, Monica Candelaria, Veronica Romero, Doreen Marquez, Virginia Cloven, Evelyn Salazar, Syllannia Edwards and Jaime Barela were all murdered. All but Edwards—who was reported missing from Lawton, Oklahoma in 2003—were from Albuquerque and had been reported missing between February 2004 and March 2005.
The promise of a park
After the bodies were found, Albuquerque City Councilman Ken Sanchez, whose district includes the West Mesa crime scene, called for the creation of a memorial. “I felt this was sacred ground—these women were human beings, and there was an unborn child who was also involved in these murders,” he told The Independent during a recent interview. “I felt we needed to find a place where we can put closure to what occurred here.”
Sanchez said he thought a park would raise awareness of the crime, which remains unsolved. “It would be a park in memory of these women, what happened to these women, and just to try to bring the awareness to a level that this community truly understands what happened—I mean, this is one of the most horrific crimes in this country,” he said. “We need to protect this area, plus we need to make the community aware of what happened, and not cover it up—and helpfully we’ll never see a crime like that happen again in this city.”
Now, nearly a year and a half later, Sanchez is still waiting for the developer’s blueprints for the park, which he said KB had promised to deliver within six to 12 months of those early discussions. “Once they bring us some plans, we may even look at expanding that to a five acre park,” he said.
According to KB Home spokesman Craig LeMessurier, the company did decide to donate three acres and has worked with Sanchez and families to plan a memorial. “Right now, what I can tell you is we did decide to dedicate this park, and we’re donating the land, but we’ll look forward to working with the city and the representatives to come together in the future and build this,” he said. “But right now, I don’t have any details around the timeline when this is going to be built.”
A father’s faith
For his part, the father of Gina Michelle Valdez has faith in KB’s promise to create a memorial park to the 11 murder victims. “It’s not in writing, but I trust them,” said Dan Valdez. “I trust them that they’re good to their word, as my word was good to them.”
Valdez recalled an incident that occurred late last year. After someone spraypainted a message of support to one of the victims on the wall against which the makeshift memorial sat, a representative from KB came to Albuquerque and visited with him, he says. “She said, ‘We have respect for the women, but not for the people who graffiti,’” he said. “She worried it would turn into an eyesore, a public nuisance.”
The makeshift memorial would have to go.
Valdez talked to the other family members and they agreed to take home any items they wanted to keep from the memorial. He brought home items left in memory of his daughter—he welded the cross from the site to a pipe atop his house and every night, plugs in a cord that illuminates the 300 Christmas lights wrapped around it. He still keeps any leftover items in the shop behind his house. The graffiti was removed and the block wall was extended, replacing a stretch of chain link fence that previously allowed equipment access into the site.
“I brought Michelle’s cross home and erected it here: That was my continuation of the memorial,” he said. “It had lived its time, though I do feel bad for Evelyn Salazar and Jaime Barela’s families—to not have had their memorial out there for a little bit of time.” (Their bodies were identified after KB ordered removal of the memorial.) Valdez blinked from behind glasses as he sat at his kitchen table. “I have to respect KB’s wants and needs,” he said. “They say they’re still committed, they just don’t have timelines.”
On-going investigation
As for the investigation itself, Albuquerque Police Department Chief Ray Schultz told The Independent it isongoing and active. The investigators now believe the murders took place between 2000 and 2005.
“We’ve characterized this from the very onset as a 360 [degree] investigation, which means they’re going to continue to follow up all leads no matter which way they go,” he said.
There are still several suspects in the case—some living and some dead.
“One of the directions that has been given to all the detectives is: Don’t get painted in just one area, continue to follow up every lead, even if it takes you off in a completely different direction,” he said. “We do that to make sure that we don’t miss anything.”
Last December, Mayor Richard Berry committed an additional $35,000 toward a reward leading to the arrest of the murderer—bringing the total reward to $100,000. According to Schultz, FBI profilers say six-figure awards are effective with cases such as the West Mesa murders.
“The purpose of that is to keep the story very much alive in the community, and in the media,” he said. “And we did get some more information come forward—but we still don’t have the information that will allow us to close this case, and that’s why we’re still continuing to follow up leads.”
This story was funded in part by a research grant from the Center for Civic Policy.
