>> that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. so many young men and women missing. in one detective define them. >> there's always a story to them. >> there's a story to her too. she's a young woman, lucky to be alive. for a lot of people, that would be the end of police work. >> i was not done. >> and so she searched, as the numbers grew. in families hurt. >> she says i have some bad news for you. >> while under a desert sky, a secret waited. >> the reality is kind of like,

this is not happening. >> missing women. forgotten by almost everyone, but her. >> i have always felt that they were going to be together. if you find one, you are going to find them all. sometimes ida lopez, simply can't wait force on sunday. sometimes in the middle of her work week, the albuquerque defect detective feels a pressing need for spiritual solace and divine guidance. the fall of 2005, was one of those times. it was a time when is sinister for seemed to be snatching women off the streets of new mexico's largest city. in the devoutly religious detective, knew she needed all the help she could get. >> i think it's somebody who is very organized.

i think he has been praying on his victims, has a particular victim in mind. >> sticking up for victims comes naturally to ida lopez. it's the same instinct that drew her to police work years ago, when she was a kid, growing up in albuquerque. >> i was about nine years old. actually it was my grandfather who raised me. he was outside. he was about in his eighties. and i'm in the porch area. and there's a foot chase, and the guy goes toward him and he's tackled by police. and i just thought that was the coolest thing i had ever seen. and so that curiosity. and then there was the service part, the helping people part of police work. >> after college ida graduated from the police academy enjoying the force as a uniformed officer. some >> most of my areas that i work, especially in patrol, i was assigned working the prostitutes in the area. >> in so she learned about the lives of women on the streets.

and it was here, well posing as a decoy during a prostitution sting operation, that she learned the raw power of their addictions. >> i just learned the absolute dependence on the drug for the girls, because there is no way in your right mind you're going to get into a car, and do with this person just told you to do. there is no way. and so that gave me empathy for them on that part, and i thought wow, this is got to be powerful. >> over the years, i'd is career blossomed. she may detective, married another cop, and started a family. her future seemed assured. but in 2004, while pregnant with her second child, doctors discovered a mass and i'd is right kidney. >> it was growing. and i had kidney cancer. >> what doctors tell? you >> well, they were shocked. they said it was not common in women, and it was not common in women my age. they would not say with the plans were because, you know,

close person i knew had cancer and died. and i thought, well, i need to make further plans. you know, my husband's got young kids to take care of. . frightening >>. then about a month and a half after i was diagnosed, i had my kidney removed. >> surgeons also removed it is a dream glands, because it too had a mass on it. but because doctors caught the cancer early, i do require neither chemo nor radiation therapy. some ideas return to work would have to be gradual, if it was going to happen at all. >> for a lot of people that would be then fleece. work >> right. >> not for. you >> know. >> i wasn't done. >> 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. >> missing pertains persons is kind of a backwater in a lot of

departments. i mean, that's not exactly, you know the premier detective job. >> right. right. it's where they needed somebody, and it worked out, you know, for me. and for them. missing persons, you know was busy. the position was there. and i thought it was perfect timing. >> as you will soon see, timing, both perfect and not so perfect will play a critical part in the story we're about to show you. within weeks of starting her new job, i did was handed to missing person files. those two files would mark the beginning of the biggest case in her career and would turn into one of new mexico's most heinous crime stories. but at the time, it was routine low priority police work. how many other detectives in missing persons? >> i was the only detective in there at the time. >> both of those missing persons were attractive women in their twenties, with the rest records for drugs and prostitution. both had seemingly vanished,

without a word to friends or relatives. sad but common, especially for these dark streets were drug addiction and prostitution literally go hand in hand. i don't win by the book. >> so what i usually do is i go back to see with her arrest history is. their lifestyle has been with drugs and so it's a matter of time they go back out. so i keep them, do my full background on them. then a third one comes. and a third one. and then as the months go by, we search more and find that there are, you know, maybe another one here, then another one there and that sort of thing. >> soon there were five with missing women with eerily similar profiles on ideas list. all of them, about the same age, with a similar look. all were known to hang out in a section of albuquerque so notorious that cops call it the war zone. all but one, a juvenile, had lengthy arrest for drugs or

prostitution. so she did would every good detective does. she started keeping a list of missing women who match that profile. that was the easiest part. the hard part was that many of them had already been missing for more than a year when i had even had a chance to start looking. it's one of those timing issues we told you about earlier. lengthy delays in reporting missing people as missing. >> it's like being in a race and someone has a year head start. ready set go. and i don't have phone records. i don't have a normal, you know regular address. i don't have a school schedule or work schedule, that sort of thing. >> and you don't have anybody who saw them yesterday. >> right. >> and can tell you what they were doing in with their state of mine, was in who they were hanging around. with >> right. in the family knows him better than i do. but they had not seen them. where they see them once a month or every six months. >> add to that fact that most missing women, had supported

their drug habit as street prostitutes, who got into cars with strange men as often as 20 to 30 times a day. and it's easy to see how another detective, one with a harder heart than the one beating inside ida lopez, might have given up. >> coming up. a missing daughter. and a father's regret. i took her to a friends house and dropped her off. i know in my heart, i did not do the right thing but i knew that i had. to >> when dateline continues. > when dateline continues. > when dateline continues. to be scary. spraying flonase daily stops your body from overreacting to allergens all season long. psst! psst! all good ♪ love them, hate their laundry, protection. lysol laundry sanitizer kills 99.9% of bacteria. detergent alone can't. lysol. what it takes to protect. ®

♪ ♪ look, if your wireless carrier was a guy you'd leave him tomorrow. not very flexible. not great at saving. you deserve better... xfinity mobile. now they have unlimited for just $30 a month... $30. and they're number one in customer satisfaction. his number... delete it. i'm deleting it. so, break free from the big three. xfinity internet customers, take the savings challenge at xfinitymobile.com/mysavings. or visit and xfinity store to learn how our switch squad every life is a mystery. makes it easy to switch and save hundreds.

not just because of what happens, but because of what might have been prevented, missed or altogether avoided. such was the mystery of the women on detective ida lopez growing list of the lost.

it's a mystery their families still struggled to understand. >> here's a dad who had a calendar, every time he saw her he marked the day. it gave her 20 bucks. maybe he knew where the money was going to go, but he saw his daughter. and that didn't take that part away, that she was still somebody's little girl. the name, the face, belong to michelle valdez. one of the first women and i had his list dan valdez, her father, had reported michelle missing, six months before i got the case. he was the guy who kept the calendar. >> the ex indicates no, no knowledge of her, disappeared, nothing. no word. >> the fact is dan them valdez, had been recording his daughters coming and going was four years. >> this is michelle. i. >> i took it upon myself to tape them, tape every event.

every chance that i had, i had the videotape. they're >> the michelle valdez, that appears in these home videos with her little sisters, is a far cry from the thin, drug wasted young woman police would later come to know and fingerprint. >> that he can i have something the easy? >> this michelle, along with her sister camille and half sister kendra, was a cut up in a clown. whether in costume for his school play, dressed up for her first communion, or showing a bloodying interest in boys. this michelle, according to her sister camille, was an all american girl, with the future as bright as the new mexico son. >> i looked up to her for many things. you know, i was always the tag along with her and her friends. >> and she didn't mind? >> no. >> not at all. >> then keep the teen years.

when life started coming at michelle valdez fast and furious. by then, dan in michelle's mother were divorced, and then was raising michelle and camille alone, while working days of the juvenile detention center. and nights and wiggins playing steel guitar with his country band. dan tried to keep a watchful eye on his girls, and even took them to work with him at the juvenile detention center, to show them where careless mistakes can lead. some of it seemed to take. some of it did not. at 13, michelle became pregnant. when >> i was devastated. but what can you do? you can't be with them 24/7. all you can do is bring them up, nurture them, show them love, attention, appreciation. >> in sometimes they make a mistake. >> sometimes they make a wrong

turn or mistake. >> shortly after her 14th birthday, michelle valdez gave birth to a baby girl, she named angelica. >> senior being a father all over again. >> father all over. again >> i was only eight-year-olds becoming an aunt, you know. e-it was tough. but once, once you know we had that bond, meighen angelica, it was nice. i enjoyed. it >> at 14 most kids, rightfully think their best years are ahead of them. high school, college. career. that was not the track michel valdez was on. though dan continue to tape all the usual family functions, michelle zero girl angelica, was now the center of attention. them on the periphery, in offhand moments, dens camera also caught something else. the look, and the unspoken despair, that signal the death of a young girl streams.

she struggled to hold it all together. but michelle eventually dropped out of school. for a while, she tried to support herself and angelica with a series of minimum wage jobs, but couldn't make ends meet. after three years, angelica was sent to live with dan's mother. who knew live nearby and michelle took to living with a series of people she called friends. by 2002, the wear and tear is written all over her face. i'm >> happy birthday. >> that september, angelica celebrated her sixth birthday. michel had just turned 20. a milestone that was not lost and mother or a child. them >> mommy is not a grown-up anymore. i mean a teenager anymore. no, in a sense, michelle never was a teenager. and now on the cusp of the young adulthood,ce bore the kinf

stories that suggested you've been hitting the crack pipe. when did you notice, things are going wrong? i'm guessing you notice before anybody else. >> yes. i noticed when she started seeing one of her boyfriends, you know. he opened up the door for all the wrong things. >>? like >> the drugs. the drugs. definitely. >> dan knew about the drugs and twice got her to agree to enter rehab. but michelle, never showed up. increasingly they were run-ins with the law. i'm michelle had already been busted for receiving in transporting stolen property, drug procession and car theft. dan news some of those arrests. most he did not. when a stolen car wrap in arizona landed michelle in jail, dan says he billed her out and pleaded with her to change her ways. >> on the way back from arizona

to hear she promised, i'm not going to hang out with the same people. i'm going to do things different and you're going to be proud of me again. and then she bails two hours after she's. ham >> the toll of michel's addiction on her younger sister camille is also evident in dance videos. as camille became a teenager, she no longer seems to want to acknowledge michelle even have her around. some >> we were always bumping heads. we were not as close, because of the drugs. she come over and steal my things or you know, i would see how upset it would make my dad. so i would tell her, you know mean things. >> before long michelle valdez stop showing up in her father's videos. sometimes she avoided the camera. them other times because she simply didn't show up. >> she knew there was events at the house because she'd collin asked if she could borrow $25. she was hungry or whatever.

she was at, you know at a hurting spot. so i gave you the money. some >> even though you knew, >> even though i knew it could be going for drugs. it was my gateway to making contact with her and seeing her in person. >> dan may have had the patience of job. but by 2004, camille, the tag along little sister had had enough. when michel asked dan if she can move back home for a while, camille put her foot down. them >> he was going to let her stay with. us and i remember telling him, no. if she comes in stays, i'm going to leave. i could not handle it. >> i remember. that >> i didn't even, i didn't even want to be around anymore. i was so tired of it. tired of seeing him hurt. >> so you told michelle she could not come over. >> i told michel she could not come over, and i took her to a friends house and i dropped her

off. there i know in my heart, i did not do the right thing, but i knew that the common sense of my brain said that i had to. i had to take that avenue. >> they call it tough love. but for dan valdez, it was pure torture. every night, he knew she was out there. and every time the phone rang, his heart stopped. hoping that her's had not. some dateline returns, after the break. returns, after the break. why choose proven quality sleep from sleep number?

because a good night's rest is where muscles recover, and our minds are restored. the new sleep number 360 smart bed is temperature balancing. and it helps keep you asleep by sensing your movement and automatically adjusts to keep you both effortlessly comfortable. perfect for those relaxing weekends. by the fall of 2004, dan valdez proven quality sleep, is life-changing sleep. only from sleep number.

calendar was beginning to fill up with acts. each ex marking another day, without word from his oldest daughter, michelle. when was the last time you saw her? >> it was september, 2004. >> how did she? look >> thin, wired out, strong out maybe. had spots on her face. and looked bad. >> did you see her then? >> honestly, i don't remember the last time i saw her. i don't remember the last words we spoke. >> you don't remember the last thing you? senator >> no. >> but it might not have been nice thing? >> no. >> but as erratic as michelle have become in recent years, she'd somehow always managed to show up to the moments that matter most to her daughter, angelica. that changed when michel failed to show up for angelica's

seventh birthday party. that day, it fell to 15 year old camille, to fill in for michelle, an active mom. that christmas angelica opened her presence alone. with no sign of her mother michelle. >> i thought maybe she turn up a few days later, a few weeks, or we would you know, she call us. >> it was breaking angelica's heart, that day, when she wasn't there. >> in february, five months after michelle was last seen, then went down to the albuquerque police station, and formally reported his daughter missing. detective ida lopez, who would later make it her mission to find michel in the other missing women, was on medical leave at the time. so in ida's absence, the valdes family was at the mercy of the police departments bureaucracy. >> what did the police tell? you >> that she didn't want to be found. >> and i can understand. they don't just missed with --

>> for a long time, the news will be full of stories about girls who were missing and everybody looking for them. and one of the things that those girls had in common was that they were all attractive, and blond, and white and in how many criminal record. and i guess i just kind of wonder, whether police and everybody else, would have started to step up their game a little bit, if that had been the case here. >> yeah, that did cross my mind, numerous times. but you know, you have to have faith in your line forsman. if you don't have faith in your line enforcement, to treat everybody equal, then what do you have? >> what you have in dan valdez case, is a search you do yourself. as spring turned summer that year, dan, his ex-wife, it is daughters, plastered flyers all over with michelle's picture all over central avenue, asking anyone who had seen her to call the albuquerque police

department. at nighttime, dan drove through the war zone. sometimes into the wee hours of the morning. looking for michelle. >> it was real hard because you know, i'd be circling the block or whatever, see somebody that may appear to be the size of michelle, a small person, and go around the block two or three times, in me wondering who they were as well as them wondering who i was. >> it had to be brutally difficult, to think of michel living that kind of life. >> definitely. definitely. it was not the way her mother and i raised her. >> those were a long nights, filled with bittersweet memories of michelle, the way she used to be, before the drugs took over. and thoughts of rare moments, together before she went missing. >> she came over to the house one day, and i had given her a few dollars, and she stood up

and said, dad, well i'm gonna run. said all right. and she said, she went up to put her arms around me and i hugged her. and she said, no, that squeeze me. tight squeeze me like you've never squeezed me before. and i got or i gave her the biggest hug a father could ever give his daughter. >> remembered moments like this sustain dan and drove him to continue his lonely search for michelle. then in july 2005, about five months after dan first reported her missing, he got a call from a detected who had only recently been signed michel's case. a detective named ida lopez. >> i thought i'd, a being a police officer was awfully small, short lady. but other than that, it seemed that, you know, she was on the up and up in that she was doing, doing what she could in her power, and at the time that she had to go out and out to the

streets them. >> it would become a close working relationship based on frequent phone calls and mutual admiration. >> dan is a, strong quiet man. this is a man who absolutely loved his daughter, no matter what. he didn't see her with the track marks. he didn't see her strong out. >> and he had no idea she'd been arrested that many times. >> well he did see her that. way but that's not, that's not what he saw in his eyes. or his heart. >> then continued to cruise the war zone, willing himself to believe that his daughter was still out there. >> i thought she was alive and doing well and doing good, but justin want to have any contact with the family. maybe i did something wrong. maybe it was me not letting her come back to the house. maybe it was camille saying no, or whatever. >> but dance confidence that michel would turn up alive, was suddenly shaken one night when

the phone rang, at the valdez home. color on the other end of the line heard something shocking. >> we had gotten a call from a family friend of ours, that i grew up with, and you know, i pick up the phone and she's like, oh my gosh, i'm sorry about your sister, and i said, you know when he talking? about she said, michelle. michelle and cinnamon were stabbed and buried on the west. mesa >> did you know who cinnamon? was >> no. >> no. never heard of her. before >> did you ask her where she heard that, yeah her aunt ran the streets, new michel new certain people, and they had heard it from her aunt. and they had heard it>> then immediately cala lopez with a tip but she was unable to find the aunt or to pin down the source of the rumor. it was all just an verifiable street talk. ida lopez had heard before

except for one tantalizing tidbit. cinnamon was a name on idlest. cinnamon outs, missing since 2004. but even if those rumors were true and human remains were cooling in the desert night on albuquerque's west mesa, this is active new, it would take a miracle to find them. >> coming up. was a serial killer stalking the women working the war zone? >> i just always thought they were going to be together. >> and death as in life? >> if you find one, you're going to find them all. >> when dateline continues. continues fferently. it could mean a chance to live longer. opdivo plus yervoy is for adults newly diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer that has spread, tests positive for pd-l1, and does not have an abnormal egfr or alk gene.

it is the only fda-approved combination of two immunotherapies. opdivo plus yervoy equals a chance for more starry nights. more sparkly days. more sunny mornings. opdivo and yervoy can cause your immune system to harm healthy parts of your body during and after treatment. these problems can be severe and lead to death. see your doctor right away if you have a cough; chest pain; shortness of breath; irregular heartbeat; diarrhea; constipation; severe stomach pain, nausea or vomiting; dizziness; fainting; eye problems; extreme tiredness; changes in appetite, thirst or urine; rash; itching; confusion; memory problems; muscle pain or weakness; joint pain; flushing; or fever. these are not all the possible side effects. problems can occur together and more often when opdivo is used with yervoy. tell your doctor about all medical conditions including immune or nervous system problems, if you've had or plan to have an organ or stem cell transplant, or received chest radiation. here's to a chance to live longer. ask your doctor about chemo-free opdivo plus yervoy. thank you to all those in our clinical trials.

you'd never want leftover onion residue or any food residue on any of your surfaces. but that's what you could be doing if you're cleaning with a used dishcloth, even after you've rinsed it. so, switch to a fresh sheet of bounty for a more hygienic clean. unlike used dishcloths that can carry and redistribute residue, bounty keeps your surfaces cleaner. because better hygiene begins with bounty. bounty, the quicker picker upper. six people were killed at a

birthday party and colorado springs on sunday. they say that a man opened fire before taking his own life. they believe his boyfriend was

a victim. rocket crash back to earth saying the country's failing to be responsible. they tried to downplay concerns saying they burned up in the atmosphere before landing in the indian ocean. now back to dateline. dateline every morning, the sun rises over the sand dan 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 audibles was to california. the mother roads glory days are behind her now. in albuquerque, where the old highway becomes central avenue, the city is decidedly down scaled drug and prostitution trade flourishes.

>> pops called a central avenue the war zone. and the women who work it's shadows prostitutes. but ever since her early days in uniformed patrol, ida lopez has called them her girls. >> i got to know a lot of them. you know, we could chase them out but for me there was always a story to them. >> i just says the stories she heard back that were heartbreaking tales of abuse and neglect that almost always had drugs at their core. >> these are hurting women. i mean, you will see some out here that they need that fix. you know, it's not what you see in vegas. it's not the call girl. it's not the pretty woman. >> by the end of 2005, i'd ahead five women on her list who were roughly the same age with similar backgrounds. young hispanic women with arrest records for drugs or

prostitution. >> i start going out there and talking to the girls. at first, some of them were hesitant. i said look, i'm not running you. i just want to know when was the last time you saw her. did you know her? what can you tell me? what's going on out here? >> how much of your time is this taking? >> it's taking all my time. >> working along, the detective distributed fliers with the women's pictures at truck stops, convenience stores, even the new mexico state fair. but she kept coming up empty. >> i want to some drugs we have places that were not willing to help me. i sat in many waiting rooms and said i don't want to know with their sessions were about, all i want to know is a timeline. >> some of the women had been missing for so long that idea started comparing notes with the detective in the departments cold case unit. eventually, ida and the cold case detective were able to persuade the department to let them form an unofficial task force, where once a month they met with other agencies,

including the fbi to discuss leads on missing persons, on cold cases, on sexual predators, and on unidentified remains. >> so we were able to communicate with each other anything that came up. any trucker initiatives or murderers that the fbi sent us we posted on the wall. our girls we posted on the wall. >> our truckers a particular problem? >> yeah, they can be. they travel interstate they. pick up a lot of girls and we know a few that have a history of murdering the girls who frequent the per truck stops. >> so at one point at least are sort of looking at truckers. >> looking at everybody. >> by the end of that year, ida 's list had grown to more than a dozen women. ida knew the odds of finding any of the missing women alive were not good. but that's not what she told the families when they called in, looking to hear something encouraging. >> i would tell them every

single day we're one day closer to finding your daughter. yes, i prayed that they're okay. hopefully they've been in a commune instruments in his town or in a rehab center or a jail or with friends that they're actually doing okay. >> did you believe any of that? >> i held on to the hope and possibility. >> reality, however, demanded that the detective do more than just hope for a happy ending. so with the tact of a parish priest, ida lopez began making the rounds. >> michelle. >> asking family members such as dan valdez for dental records and dna swabs. >> when you go to some family that's got a missing daughter or sister and say, i need some familial dna and i need your child's dental records, you are essentially saying that family i do not expect to find her alive. >> right. and i also think that they knew

the lifestyle which puts them in harm's way and so nobody denied the dangers that their daughters were in. >> out in the war zone where the human urged towards self destruction is the strongest, death is just another occupational hazard. >> about how many cars a day would you get into? up to 20, 30 cars a day. you know how many guys is that? but they know, they know the dangers out there. >> rumors that albuquerque might have its own jack the ripper who was snatching prostitutes off the streets was still common currency among the women working in the war zone. >> there was a handful of urban legends. it was cuban drug dealers, it was a cop from california, i mean a number of things. they heard some of the girls had been chopped up and pieces and dumped in another county south of here. >> chilling, if true. but in the light spangled dock -ness of albuquerque's war zone,

where women sell themselves for as little as $20 a trick, truth and rumor are interchangeable commodities. still, and her quieter moments, i'd allowed herself to feared the worst. >> i just always felt that they were going to be together. >> in death as in life? >> yeah. i just, you know, there was nothing that led me factual to believe that. i just always felt that if you find when you're going to find them all. >> coming up. unfortunately, ida's theory would soon be put to the test. >> one of our violent crimes detective said, oh, they found a bone. >> when dateline continues. es trusted by pet owners for over 20 years frontline® plus is the #1 name in flea and tick protection.

with frontline, you and your pet can go anywhere... ♪♪ no matter how you define it. frontline®. here. there. everywhere. my audible library is just like scroll scroll scroll scroll scroll scroll, it's a lot. i downloaded audible and really, really enjoyed it. and then it kind of just became a lifestyle after that. audible allows me to find a space for myself. you just get way more than you pay for, one of those rare things in life.

oh, the audible plus catalog is awesome. it's like having a streaming service, but just for audio content. there's audible originals... there's podcasts... i've used some of the meditations, it helps me relax. mythology, anthropology, a lot of the -ologies. audible recommended the right audiobooks at the right time. they pretty much have whatever you like. it's really enriched my life in so many ways. i can put on an audiobook, or a podcast, and be transported somewhere that is impossible to go, that is why i love audible. to start your free 30-day trial, just text listen 11 to 500500. excuse me.

>> for four years. >> hello. >> detective ida lopez attended her list of missing women as if it were a garden plot. >> did you notice when the girls were going missing? >> mostly she just watched it grow but occasionally she was able to do some pruning. whenever a lost soul was found. >> i find a girl with the same background, but guess what? i find her months later. and i get to called a dad and say, we found her. she's been arrested. >> kind of weird to be able to, you know, call a family say great news -- >> oh yeah -- >> you're daughters a prostitute, and she's alive. >> right but, i get to say that

this is where she is that. >> the families of the 18 women now on ida's list prayed for happy endings like that one. but most of the women who worked albuquerque's war zone, fellow travelers who might have helped ida find the missing, were true drug at old to find useful leads. some passed on quickly reversed ida that the missing woman were dead and had been dumped in the desert west of town. >> it's like a little dark hidden evil city out here. >> desiree gonzalez says she used to hang out on the streets and says she knew several of the missing women and had also heard those same rumors. >> i came out here looking for my cousin i bumped into cinnamon and she told me that the girls were getting their heads cut off and took it to the mesa and i got scared. it seems like they knew, or something. >> ida didn't completely

disbelieve with the girls were telling her. but the mesa, a vast expanse of desert west of town where people frequently dumb things they no longer have any use for, was simply too big an area to launch a search based on just a rumor. and so this case was going nowhere. until late in the afternoon on february 2nd, 2009. >> sit. >> when christine ross decided to take her dog for a walk. >> okay. >> they strolled out of her new subdivision, one of many that hit recently sprouted up in the desert west of albuquerque, and then over to an abandoned construction site where christine let her dog off the leash to run. >> she ran up ahead of me, and she was messing with something on the ground. and then she left it. we came upon it, and it appeared to be a bone. didn't look like the normal animal bony find out here.

so i took a picture of the bone. i sent it to my sister, who is a nurse. she confirmed that it looks like a femur bone and i should call the authorities. >> finding a bone, even a human bone, is not unusual out here on albuquerque's west mesa. this is storied territory, or native american tribes, can keep the doors and cowboys once roamed. the bone could easily have belonged to one of them. but the police who arrived at the scene shortly after nightfall soon determined that this was no ancient artifacts. this bone belong to someone who had died not too distant in the past. >> february 2nd is when one of our violent crimes detective said, oh, they found a bone on the mesa. a let you know. >> tonight they say the search is far from over. >> i saw it on tv on february 2nd when christina russ and her dog was reported on the local

station is finding a femur bone. >> i was on a ski trip, and when i came home i had seen it on the news and i told my boyfriend. i said, you know, what if that's michelle? >> when you heard it, what did you think? >> hope and again the old parental feeling is hoping that it wasn't. >> then valdez was not alone. there were other homes across albuquerque that night that were suddenly filled with a similar stew of hope and dread. over the next few days, investigators would find more bones scattered over a 30 yard swath of that abandoned construction site. one mystery was ending. another just beginning. dateline returns after the break.

for sure. seriously? one up the power of liquid, one up the toughest stains. any further questions? uh uh! one up the power of liquid with tide pods ultra oxi. so what's going on? [dog] i'm a talking dog. the other issue. [dog] oh...i'm scratching like crazy. you've got some allergic itch with skin inflammation. apoquel can work on that itch in as little as 4 hours, whether it's a new or chronic problem. and apoquel's treated over 9 million dogs. [dog] nice. and... the talking dog thing? is it bothering you? no... itching like a dog is bothering me. until dogs can speak for themselves, you have to. when allergic itch is a problem, ask for apoquel. apoquel is for the control of itch associated with allergic dermatitis and the control of atopic dermatitis in dogs. do not use apoquel in dogs less than 12 months old or those with serious infections. apoquel may increase the chances of developing serious infections and may cause existing parasitic skin infestations or pre-existing cancers to worsen. new neoplasias were observed in clinical studies and post-approval. most common side effects are vomiting and diarrhea. feeling better? [dog] i'm speechless.

[dog] thanks for the apoquel. that's what friends are for. ask your veterinarian for apoquel. next to you, apoquel is a dog's best friend. alright, guys, no insurance talk on beach day. -i'm down. -yes, please. [ chuckles ] don't get me wrong, i love my rv, but insuring it is such a hassle. same with my boat. the insurance bills are through the roof. -[ sighs ] -be cool. i wish i could group my insurance stuff. -[ coughs ] bundle. -the house, the car, the rv. like a cluster. an insurance cluster. -woosah. -[ chuckles ] -i doubt that exists. -it's a bundle! it's a bundle, and it saves you money! hi. i'm flo from progressive, and i couldn't help but overhear... super fun beach day, everybody. for five years, then valdez

prayed at the end of each day that the next sunrise would bring news of his daughter, michelle. >> police have set up a tip line. >> then in february 2009 came unsettling news. a thighbone had been found on albuquerque's west mesa. within days, evidence of one body had become evidence of two. and then three. then for. then five. then six. >> six sets of remains were found within 20 yards of each other. >> dan valdez, who had been wondering for years where his daughter was saw his most cherished hopes and his most dreaded fears placed on a collision course. >> when they found the second, third, and fourth sets i said to myself i have to realistically look at this, that michelle i'm sure it probably is out there. >> at times, detective ida

lopez was out there to along with practically every other member of the albuquerque police department and forensic experts from the fbi. digging, scraping, lifting. >> the reality, it was kind of like this is not happening. you know, it's stuff you read about. >> then came seven. eight. nine. ten. 11. it turned out, all were women. and all with the same name. jane doe. and ida lopez couldn't help but wonder if the dry bones where the women she had been looking for. >> you know, i just didn't know. it was so much going through my mind. >> over the years, ida's list of the lost had grown to include close to two dozen women who felt the same basic profile. young drug addicted hispanic women who were known to wander the gritty streets of albuquerque's war zone. for ida, walking through his bone yard felt as if she were

watching a horror movie unfold in real life. >> you're finding this and you're just going, i wonder if it's going to be the rest of the girls. and i carried this little flyer and might pocket and in my car for the last, you know, for years. >> and within weeks, ida's early work of collecting dental records of the missing women and dna samples from their families began to pay off. bones started to get names. >> the only body that has been identified so far, victoria fathers. >> she is on your list. >> she was on my list. >> and he thought, this is it. >> i thought this could be it, yeah. >> but there was more. something that surprised even veteran crime scene investigators. in the grave of jane doe number eight, investigators found a tiny second set of bones. it was a fetus. >> jane don't number eight had been for months pregnant at the time of her death.

>> they would say we found a skull that had a lot of hair and she's pregnant. i said it's michel valdez, but they hadn't made an idea yet. >> michelle valdez. after years of having only her rhapsody and her father is bittersweet memories to go on, ida lopez was now sure she knew where michelle valdez was. >> did you know michelle was pregnant when she disappeared? >> i did. >> a few days later, lab work confirmed ida's hunt. jane doane number eight was michelle valdez. >> and i had to tell dan. the hardest part of this whole thing is having to go to somebody's house and say we found her and she's not alive. >> i see her pull up out front and i go out and stand on the sidewalk. she gets out of her car and comes up to me and i just says, dan. she says, i have some bad news

for you. >> then, she was ided and it was her and they found, you know, she was pregnant. and the baby. it was -- it was just very difficult. >> i looked at her in disbelief. but i knew it was reality. i just could feel all the strength and my body just kind of drain all of a sudden. and i kind of was wobbling a little bit and ida consoled me a little bit and said it's okay, you know, it's okay. and then she says is there anything that we can do? do you need anything? i said no. i said just the information you gave me was plenty. >> of course, there was more than needed to do that evening. he would have to tell michel's 12 year old daughter, angelica. >> and i said, angelica. i said, detective lopez just told us that your mother has

been positively ided as one of the west mesa women. and that's one unhealthy looked at me and started crying. she said, no don't tell me that. you're lying to me. don't lie to me. it's -- i said, honey i'm not. i'm telling you the truth. >> it was a scene that no doubt had played out earlier at the family home of victoria chavez. but for the families of the other women on ida the's list, the waiting and wondering would go on for months. for ida lopez, there was the fear that hurt nightmare prediction was coming true. >> i just always felt that if you fun one, you're going to find them all. >> and for albuquerque's a homicide detectives there was the most pressing question of all. who was responsible for turning the west mesa into an unmarked

cemetery? and was he still at work? >> coming up. searching for clues in a crime scene big enough to be seen from space. >> it's kind of eerie looking at the satellite photos. >> it really sends a chill up your spine. >> when dateline continues. dateline continues nexgard is the flea and tick protection that's #1 with vets. it even prevents the infection that causes lyme disease. your vet trusts nexgard for her patients and her own dog. plus, its delicious beef flavor is #1 with dogs. ask your vet about nexgard.

rinsing the dishes before they go in the dishwasher? well, new cascade platinum has 50% more cleaning power, plus, its delicious beef flavor is #1 with dogs. so you don't have to. its food-seeking enzymes break down food into particles so small they can flow right down the drain. plus, it's powerful enough for the quick-wash cycle. new cascade platinum with 50% more cleaning power!

e tseallow w tirifto w r. ol w.. wke it me annoh kp erneorki a gig r thr vis. eye t iny,whh lirs wi st t

yo intnedoha enncyo oinpeen thvefaered it me annoh kp erneorki a gig r thr vis. th is rkth irdy,whh lirs wi st t oo fm rae ofelblops and abt r sttg every fall as the southwestern summer heat begins to ease, hot air balloons rise like spring flowers over albuquerque and the surrounding desert. it's the city's annual balloon fiesta. a moneymaking spectacle the draws tourists from all over the world to albuquerque for one week in october. it's unlikely that any of the balloonists who float out over the west mesa area spend much time studying the details of

the sandy desert floor below. but if one of them had during the 2003 or 2004 festivals, they might have actually seen evidence of a murder moonlighting as a gravedigger. it turns out that even though that evidence was long gone by the time those bones were discovered in 2009, a bird's-eye view was precisely the perspective investigators needed to start their search for a killer. >> when you see the satellite photos and you see the scarring on a desert floor, now knowing what we know now, it's very obvious those look like graves. >> this is what's former albuquerque police chief racial says investigators saw when they looked at old pictures of the mesa. and this 2002 image of the area when the bones were discovered, there is nothing unusual. just desert and sage brush. a dry stream bed running through it. two years later, in 2004 when

most of the women on the detectives list disappearing, the images showed tire tracks leading from this road to a few bare spots in the vegetation. spots that weren't there before. this photo, taken the following year, shows even more bera spots clustered within 20 yards of each other. >> it's kind of eerie, looking at the satellite photos. >> it really sends a chill up and down your spine. >> a conclusion was inescapable. albuquerque police were looking at the evolving work of a serial killer. >> this particular individual made sure that he went back each and every time when he was going to dispose of a body, dispose of it in the same area. >> somebody who lives here? >> we don't know if it's someone who lives here are just comes back on a regular basis. >> whatever that killers permanent address, those satellite photos were a huge

break because they told the police that when he was active here and most importantly when he quit. >> there could be somebody up there right now. >> yeah. >> and just depending on where they're at, they wouldn't even see them up there. >> detective tod and sergeant lou do the job trying to track down the killer. all they knew was that he killed at least 11 women and that the 2005 housing boom that brought suburban sprawl to the west mesa probably forced him to abandon this burial ground and find another one or there would be no neighbors around to watch him work. >> europe affable to three quarters of a mile from any populated area back in the timeframe. >> the timeframe, 2003 to early 2005, and 11 sets of bones. not a lot to go on. but the detectives new simply finding the bones in the first place i had been an incredibly

lucky break. >> all the stars aligned. yeah. >> oddly enough, the westminster investigators good fortune again thousands of miles to the east, in the fall of 2008. that's one crumbling financial markets on wall street caused home construction on the west mesa the grind to a halt. >> the company kind of left town and just kind of left the land the way it was. >> if those houses had been built, they would've been built right on top of that graveyard. >> correct. >> and nobody would be the wiser. >> correct. then august 2008 we had a really bad rainstorm. >> and the rain runoff from the deserted construction site flooded the new neighborhoods that surrounded it. it was when the company return to the site to fix the runoff problem that they inadvertently brought some bones to the surface, where five months later those bones were discovered by christine russ and her dog rocca. >> you look at how many things

had to have happen for these victims to be located. the development at first, the housing downturn after that, the fact that the company leaves, a big rainstorm comes, unearth a certain things and now we look at these victims. >> so you get lucky. >> yes. very lucky. >> very lucky. >> by late february 2009, paul feisty and his small army of crime scene investigators and volunteers weren't feeling very lucky at all. they had literally spent weeks in the trenches, looking for bones at the abandoned construction site. >> it is a lot of shuttle and pick work. it's a lot of sifting and actually in the dirt. >> two women on ida lopez's list had already been identified among the 11 sets of remains. now, between the bulldozers and i just prayers, the department was moving heaven and earth to find out if there were more women from ida's list out there. commander vice knew every scrap

of evidence recovered from that gigantic crime scene would have to be catalogued and stored until it came time to prosecute the west mesa gravedigger. >> the size and scope of this thing was way beyond anything that any of us imagined it would be as it unfolded. >> it was a crime scene that covered the equivalent of 75 football fields. and because construction crews had once leveled and filled a dry stream bed with some of the bodies had been buried, the team had to dig deep to find what had once been shallow graves. >> we are police officers. we're not archaeologists. we have a little bit of background in some of these things, but something in this level was overwhelming. >> the learning curve with steep. earliness creation, one investigator watched as an earth mover dug deep and dumped a lot of dirt only to see a human skull roll down the hill and stop at his feet. it was an eye opener that taught everyone from seasoned

criminal investigator to back how operator to tread lightly. >> and from the time that bone came out of the hole just about every single remaining victim came out intact. >> they were using the best technology the department could bring to bear such as lasers and ground penetrating radar. but the work was slow. and the commander would soon feel as if the eyes of the nation were watching every move he made. >> i'm wondering how many more am i going to find in how many more names in my going to go home was tonight? >> coming up. >> investigators are looking for connection. any signs that the women knew each other. >> we had things that we wanted to keep very secret. we didn't want them released. >> and parents who lost a child find a cause. >> we all had a common denominator. our daughters. a lot of people said they were drug at acts and prostitutes but you know what's?

the first thing is is that they were human beings to begin with. >> when dateline continues. eeth more comfortably and predictably than ordinary aligners. so i can create custom treatment plans for every smile. (♪ ♪) shaq? remember when you were telling us to check out the general for car insurance, and we all thought you were losing it, so we left you deep in the woods? before february 2009, victoria turns out you were right about the general. i just misjudged them based on their commercials. they're actually a quality insurance company that's been saving people money for nearly 60 years. i'm pretty sure i said all of that. our bad, let's get out of here. five more minutes, my skunk is almost done. oooh, is that what i smell? for a great low rate, and nearly 60 years of quality coverage - make the right call - and go with the general.

chavez and michelle valdez had been virtually invisible to everyone in albuquerque except their families, their customers, and detective lopez who had their names on her list of women. but for the most part, they didn't even know there was a list. the news media has shown little interest in the story when desperate family members had come to them asking for help. >> they wouldn't even put a picture on the news or nothing. that's all we really wanted, you know? just flash a picture real quick. >> of course, all that changed once bones started turning up

on the mesa. >> a few years before the first body was found, a colleague of mine and i had heard about a list of women that were missing. >> and as it turns out, jolene gutierrez cruger, a columnist for the albuquerque journal had gotten a copy of that list a few years earlier when she works at the police beat. now that two women for midas list that had been identified, jolene had an idea. >> i said one of my editors you know maybe we ought to run that list. maybe we ought to be a little more proactive. and the editor did not say a whole lot and i thought, well, all right it and will see what happens. >> the resulting column which for the first time publicly connected the missing woman on ida's list with the mess mesa bone field, hit the front page one month after the first phone was found. >> the response was amazing. i think because for the first time we had started to put faces on these women and we had

explains to the citizens of albuquerque that there were interest to women that were missing. there were a whole bunch of them. >> suddenly families who had once felt isolated in their agony now felt a communal bond. and at the center of it all was dan valdez. >> and i said, well let's gather these families together and let's get to know them and let's get to be each other's support system. let's exchange phone numbers. >> an impromptu memorial came to life alongside the will that border the desert crime scene. and the newly organized families which included everyone with adored daughter on ida's list began holding monthly vigils to keep public attention focused on finding all of the missing women. by now, then was emerging as the videographer and de facto spokesman for the families. >> we all had a common denominator. our daughters. some of them chums around with one another. it was comforting that it

didn't just happen to me. >> six weeks after the digging began out on the west mesa, even more sets of remains were identified. and sure enough, they too were names on idle lopez list of missing new women. >> investigators are looking for connections. any sign that the women knew each other. >> find out, the street alongside the desert crime scene was a media encampment where reporters were protectively live at five, six, and ten. sometimes reporting details that crime scene commander paul fist preferred to keep secret. >> all of the victims buried out on the west may set were buried naked, with no closing on. >> it was a problem. we had things we wanted to keep very secret, or things that we didn't want released. we had them in the air. they had the big telescope-ing lenses. they were there constantly and there were certain processes that did pose a concern. >> caught between the pressure to keep the public informed and the need to prevent key details

from leaking out to cranks and copy cats who routinely clogged tip lines, commander feisty found himself scheduling sensitive excavation work in the off hours when he knew cameras were not be looking over his shoulder. >> i needed to know where they were all the time, that way so far we're doing a different process or if i was looking at something specific i needed to know that i didn't have the eyes of america in that whole with me. >> by mid april, 2009 after two months of searching, mapping, an aerial photography, commander feisty finally felt confident that his team had found all the bones there were to find and began shutting down the west makes a crime scene. >> well, just a few minutes ago albuquerque police left the dig site after they say they'd met all of the goals that they set. >> the total body count stayed at 11 sets of adult remains and one fetus. but for ida lopez the discovery

and identification of seven women from her list meant that years of careful detective work were finally paying off. >> she's very passionate about her job, and she realized that these women all had families. they've got parents and grandparents, and some of them actually had children of their own. and she wanted to be able to provide them with some answers. >> in addition to victoria chavez and michelle valdez, the others from ida's list were cinnamon elks, julie nieto, veronica romero, monica candelaria, and doreen marquez. >> a lot of people said they were drug addicts and prostitutes. well, if they were, so be it. i didn't choose their lifestyle. but you know what? the first thing is they were human beings to begin with. >> commander feist, who tried to keep the local press at arm's length during the excavation, finally allowed them to cross under the yellow tape and onto crime scene, along with crews from

"america's most wanted." >> the tv show "america's most wanted" was also at the crime scene today filming for next weekend's episode on the west mesa mystery. >> gathered for a vigil -- >> reporter: media coverage could be helpful now. and might generate badly needed tips from the public. because not only was there a serial killer to catch but also because one set of remains was about to upset everything detectives thought they knew about that killer. coming up. >> when they told us that they had a young black girl, i thought, i didn't have a black girl on my list. >> who was she? where did she come from? how did she get to albuquerque? not all of those questions had been answered as of yet. >> was it possible ida lopez's list was just the tip of the iceberg? >> it's desert. there could be very realistically a lot of bodies.

>> this, in a way, suggests maybe there are women out there who aren't on any list. >> that's a possibility. could be others. there could be others. >> when "dateline" continues. with dupixent, i can du more....beginners' yoga. namaste... ...surprise parties. aww, you guys. dupixent helps prevent asthma attacks... ...for 3!... ...so i can du more of the things i love. dupixent is not for sudden breathing problems. it's an add-on-treatment for specific types of moderate-to-severe asthma that can improve lung function for better breathing in as little as two weeks. and can reduce, or even eliminate, oral steroids. and here's something important. dupixent can cause serious allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis. get help right away if you have rash, shortness of breath, chest pain, tingling or numbness in your limbs. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection,

and don't change or stop your asthma treatments, including steroids, without talking to your doctor. are you ready to du more with less asthma? just ask your asthma specialist about dupixent. you said you'd never get a dog. you said you'd never do a lot of things. but you never knew all the things a dog could do for you. and with resolve you never have to worry about the mess. love the love, resolve the mess. so with your home & auto bundle, you'll save money and get round-the-clock protection. -sounds great. -sure does. shouldn't something, you know, wacky be happening right now? we thought people could use a break. we've all been through a lot this year. -that makes sense. -yeah. so... ♪♪ now's not a good time 3/5ths of nsync. are you sure? you have us booked all day. -read the room, guys. -yeah. right? after months of digging for

bones in the desert west of albuquerque, detectives desperately wanted to get on

with the work of catching a killer. so far all the remains identified had been names on ida lopez's list of missing women. and all had worked as prostitutes on the mean streets of the city's war zone. for police that seemed like a good place to start their search for the killer. >> we're looking for people who've had histories of showing violence against prostitutes. >> and that's more than just a few guys. >> it's more than just a few. >> it had to be someone local, investigators assumed. a meticulous man whose grim will had brought him back to the mesa again and again to bury his victims. everything was in a pretty contained area. all the bones. all the remains. >> yes. >> because this guy had complete freedom or he thought nobody's going to come out here? >> probably because he felt safe out here. >> for detectives like todd babcock it all seemed to add up.

except for one thing. the crime lab had determined that one of the unidentified sets of remains, jane doe number 7, was a young black female. >> when they told us that they had a young black girl, i thought, i didn't have a young black girl on my list. >> for medical investigator wendy honeyfield the bones of jane doe number 7 and her pink-tipped acrylic nails were a beguiling puzzle. >> she's like a lot of other cases that we had skeletal remains that come in. and there's so much work that's always done behind the scenes to get them identified. that nobody really ever sees. >> for the detectives who were trying to catch a serial killer those remains represented a wild card with staggering implications. what if the west mesa grave digger was a prolific transient? what if jane doe number 7 was

just the first of many victims the grave digger brought to the west mesa from somewhere else? >> who was she? where did she come from? how did she get to albuquerque? not all those questions have been answered as of yet. >> it would take more than diligent detective work to find those answers. but within a few months of receiving those remains the lab-coated sleuths at the office of the medical investigator began unraveling the riddle of jane doe number 7. >> since her skull was pretty much intact, one of our senior investigators who is able to do forensic sketching started doing a profile for her. >> based on photographs of the skull and a partial hair weave that was recovered from her grave, the sketch artist imagined that jane doe number 7 must have looked something like this. >> he was able to define out her ears. that the chin was specific for

me. her nose and her eyes were very important. >> jane doe's number 7 nose had been broken sometime before she died. so that was represented in the sketch. and because her wisdom teeth had not fully developed, wendy knew this jane doe was probably only 14 or 15 years old when she died. >> i started looking into the missing and exploited children's website and was able to search through as many african-american females that matched the possible stature, where they might have been when they went missing. >> from a pool of hundreds wendy first narrowed the field to 30, then to 10, and then to 1. one girl whose face, age, and biography seemed to match what she saw in the sketch. her name was syllania edwards. according to the website, she'd been a 13-year-old runaway from

a group home in lawton, oklahoma in 2003. >> it was her ear. her ear that was exposed in the photo. and it was her eyes. that was what kept me -- kept bringing me back to her. >> dental records from oklahoma confirmed that jane doe number 7 was in fact syllania edwards. one answer found. but that only generated more questions, like when did the oklahoma teenager get to new mexico, and who brought her? >> i don't know. and that's what we're trying to figure out. >> possibly the killer? >> don't know. i have no idea how she got here. >> so detectives started checking with police departments and jails throughout the southwest on the hunch that syllania, as young as she was, might have been entangled in a prostitution circuit that shuttles women from city to city.

>> what we see very often is the women involved in prostitution work in what's called the circuit. so they'll move from albuquerque to phoenix to las vegas to los angeles and maybe not return on that circuit for several years. >> it was in denver, another city on the circuit, that detective todd babcock hit paydirt. >> at one point syllania had been arrested up in the denver area for prostitution, going by a different name at the time. had been booked. they were able to get me a booking photograph of what syllania looked like around the time that she died, we believe. >> syllania edwards was released from that denver-area jail in july 2004, the same year almost all the other west mesa women had gone missing. the next time anyone heard anything about syllania, she was here in this makeshift grave site outside albuquerque, sharing it with ten other women she never knew in life but will be forever linked with in

death. >> the biggest thing that makes her different is she's not a local girl. all of her other victims were local. they had ties to albuquerque. >> she was last seen in denver. >> last known police positive contact was in denver. >> suggesting possibly that the killer met her in denver, brought her here? >> i don't believe so. >> you think she came here on her own? >> it's -- i know she had been to albuquerque at least one prior time to her ending up out here. possibly two prior times. >> nine months after the discovery of the first bone on the west mesa, the detectives were back to square one. the odds were good that this woman, like the others, had simply strolled out into the war zone and climbed into the wrong car. but her presence in the west mesa boneyard raised a troubling prospect. >> there are other girls from out of state in the same, you

know, are we going to find a repeat? we don't know. >> now investigators feared the serial killer they were hunting may have buried other bodies elsewhere in the vast desert west of town. >> it's desert. there could very realistically be a lot of bodies. >> this in a way suggested that maybe there are women out there who aren't on any list. >> that's a possibility. >> could be others. there could be others. >> coming up. >> he was watching a particular prostitute, see a vehicle pick this curl up, drive to a remote location. >> a suspect caught in the act. >> we approach the vehicle, opened the door, the first words out of this girl's mouth was that he was trying to kill her. >> when dateline continues. n dateline continues

this past year has felt like a long, long norwegian winter. but eventually, with spring comes rebirth. everything begins anew. and many of us realize a fundamental human need to connect with other like-minded people. welcome back to the world. viking. exploring the world in comfort... once again.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ monitor, check and lock down you money with security from chase. control feels good. from the moment the west mesa chase. make more of what's yours.

murder case landed in their laps, detectives knew they would be chasing a phantom. grasping at smoke. the killer, whoever he was the police naturally assumed he was male, had a five year head start. >> you think we're dealing with one guy here? >> i think there's no doubt that it's one guy because based on our experience with crimes of this nature, homicide crimes, we have multiple offenders someone's going to talk. >> this killer had seemingly left nothing behind but a pile of dry bones. and a few old hazy satellite images of tire tracks on the desert sand. >> and it's almost frustrating because you look at this picture and you see the disturbed earth which later we learn our grave sites and you see the tire tracks but you cannot get your hands on

anything else. >> no witnesses, no fingerprints, no dna. >> we went back starting in 2002. we got the records from the local jail, whether anyone was arrested for prostitution, criminal solicitation, anything like that. and we got a list of names. >> but what kind of man is capable of killing and disposing of 11 women without somebody noticing something. >> fbi's behavioral sciences agents came in, took a look at our crime scene, took a look at the evidence we had. they came up with their profile of who they thought they were looking at including that profile was that a white male. >> 35 to 50? >> your typical profile. >> lives alone or lives away from home for extended periods of time. probably had some brush with law enforcement. probably familiar with the prostitution trade.

>> yes. >> i'm still right down the middle of the fairway on this. >> and that's still a lot of people. >> it's a lot of people. and to use that profile and rule somebody out just because they're not on that profile? >> you can't. >> no you can't. >> no. >> the detectives needed a solid tip and by the summer of 2009 the fbi and the city of albuquerque were offering $100,000 to anyone who could help them catch and convict the man responsible for killing the west makes it women. for the detective who had long maintained that everybody counts, the existence of that kind of reward was a sign of progress. >> though the police tip line bus with hundreds of calls from a trail mix of nuts, cooks, and the merely misguided. >> -- detective bab caught. >> no one who seem to know anything about that five-year missing persons cases was dialing the phone. >> there were numerous rumors

out there that certain individuals had killed several of them, and then one in particular had been killed by drug dealers. >> we're all the victims killed the same way? >> we believe so. >> can you tell me what that is? >> no. >> homicidal violence. >> you can't say gun, knife, strangulation. you're keeping that quiet because you don't want someone to convince to those who didn't do it. >> that's correct. that's why we're staying with homicidal violence. >> okay. >> homicidal violence. there was no shortage of names on the police list of potential suspects who were capable of that. but one names that out. a name and face that detective bad cox knew quite well from an encounter in 1999 when bad cop was working the vice unit in albuquerque. >> i was walking -- the vice unit was watching a particular prostitute. see vehicle pick this curl up. drive to a revote location. we approach the vehicle, open

the door, the first words out of this girl's mouth, whose unknown prostitute was that he's trying to kill her. >> and the man in the car was? >> lorenzo montoya. >> lorenzo montoya, a short, powerfully built man in his thirties who was known to have an equally short temper and a taste for prostitutes. bob cox says he saw marks on the woman's throat and that she had told him montoya looked like he was enjoying it. >> did you believe her story? >> yes. >> so lorenzo was arrested for charges beyond just patronizing a prostitute. >> yes he was. >> that felonious all charge against lorenzo montoya went nowhere because the victim later refused to testify. but it was what had happened next that really focused the detectives attention. and 2006, years after being caught in the act of choking one prostitute, lorenzo montoya it was caught in the company of a dead one.

>> on the surface, seems like a pretty good suspect. >> yeah. but we don't know if it's him or not. >> according to police, montoya lured the woman to his home near the west mesa burial ground. he killed her, wrapped her body in a blanket, and was preparing to dump her in the trunk of his car when the woman's boyfriend showed up. >> we would just love to have the opportunity to interview him and treat him just like any of the under individuals we were looking at this case. >> but that unfortunately will never happen. the boyfriend shot and killed lorenzo montoya on the spot. it was a bit of frontier justice for montoya, who is about to literally get away with murder. but years later, his death would be just as tough break for detectives investigating the bodies found on the west mesa. >> it is nothing to connect montoya to those bodies.

just that he committed that kind of crime. >> being shot with a dead prostitute in his arms. it is. >> but as tempting as it might be to pin the murders on a dead man, the detective say there were a few disquieting facts, starting with this one. suffer moron, one woman on the detectives list, had vanished after lorenzo montoya died. >> and if you close this case and you say and decided it was lorenzo montoya and then later you find out it was somebody else, a lot harder to prosecute that person. >> absolutely. >> absolutely. >> as 2009 due to a close, two more women from ida's list where i identified. virginia cloven and ellen salazar. there was only one set of nameless remains left identify. but by not seems likely that whoever she was, her name was

probably already on it is list. the new year began with the detectives knowing they needed a break and they were prepared to follow any tip anywhere if that's what it took to solve the case. >> albuquerque police join fbi agents are now in joplin missouri. >> then a news flash came from missouri that had everyone in albuquerque glued to their tv screens. >> that's a long ways away from albuquerque, new mexico. >> coming up, is the answer to the mystery blowing in the wind? >> he's in the area where the prostitutes frequent. he's a photographer so he's got to have close contact with these people. and now through investigating other sources we find something that tells us a little bit more about their lifestyle as well which would give us that immediate got reaction. it's gotta be, it's got to be that person. >> when dateline continues.

over onion residue or any food residue on any of your surfaces. but that's what you could be doing if you're cleaning with a used dishcloth, even after you've rinsed it. so, switch to a fresh sheet of bounty for a more hygienic clean. unlike used dishcloths that can carry and redistribute residue, bounty keeps your surfaces cleaner. because better hygiene begins with bounty. bounty, the quicker picker upper.

♪ ♪ i'll be right back. with moderate to severe crohn's disease, i was there, just not always where i needed to be. is she alright? i hope so. so i talked to my doctor about humira. i learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of crohn's disease after trying other medications. the majority of people on humira saw significant symptom relief in as little as 4 weeks. and many achieved remission that can last. humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. be there for you, and them. ask your gastroenterologist about humira. with humira, remission is possible. in late january 2010, nearly a

year after the first bones were discovered on albuquerque's west mesa, the last set of remains was matched to another name on ida's a list. >> university of north texas identify jamie borrell or through dna. >> although 15 year old jimmy was not a prostitute she was last seen with one. her cousin, evelyn salazar whose remains were also found on the mesa. there were still seven missing women who fit the profile on ida lopez his list and if they weren't on the mesa, where were they? with the investigation now focused on finding a serial killer, ida thought back to her late night chats with the women of the war zone.

had there been anything she overlooks? anything specific about a car? a smell? a tattoo? or an accent? something that might be significant. >> when you asked them how many that dates have you had? i've had 17, i've been choked, i've been be, i've been -- you know, i've been raped the number of times. so you get a lot of that and that thinking okay is it somebody that's nice at picking them up? >> investigators had plenty of leads but none that had gotten them closer to answering two questions. who was he? and where was he now? to find out, commander mike guy or head of the albuquerque pd's criminal investigations unit says the department chase leads all over the country from texas, where a woman with profiles similar to those of the west makes that women have also gone missing. the states as far away as pennsylvania and florida, where the backgrounds of travel

patterns of certain types of men seem to warrant close attention. >> there's probably people that were in albuquerque during the timeframe we're looking at and now through investigative leads or other sources we find something that tells us a little bit more about their lifestyle as well, which would give us again that kind of immediate gut reaction. saying, oh it's got to be. it's got to be that person. it was that kind of got reaction that led detectives to joplin, missouri in august of 2010. >> what bryant, investigators are extremely tightlipped at this point but we do know this is in connection to the west mesa murders in albuquerque, new mexico. >> it's target of the search warrant was a local joplin missouri photographer who had allegedly been in albuquerque to take pictures during the city's 2004 balloon fiesta. but police think it wasn't just the balloons he was photographing. remember, 2004 as one almost all the women found on the west

mesa disappeared. >> he's in the area where that prostitutes frequent. he's a photographer so he's going to have close contact with these people. whatever else draws that connection to him, we have to look into it. >> it was intended to be a low-key search of the man's home and offices but it didn't turn out that way. >> it gathered a lot of attention because we had to utilize the fbi. we had to utilize the joplin police department and one of the locations that was searched was right next door to a newspaper. if that statement a vigil was here in albuquerque, the media wouldn't have even known about him. >> fbi ancients also search this. home >> was the man whose house you served a search warrant on, is he a suspect? >> no. i wouldn't say he's a suspect. he's just an individual that came to our attention and we had to follow through. >> so this guy takes photographs of the part of town but you sort of looking at. is that what we're looking at here, is you're interested in photos this man took and whether he found anything in

them? >> we really can't say why. >> their detective spent months coming through all the evidence taken from the photographer's office and home, nothing definite was found. months later, most of these boxes were returned. now, years after the discovery of bones on the west mesa, albuquerque police are sure of only one thing. if this serial killer who preyed on their city is still alive, he is probably moved on to another hunting ground. >> my personal opinion, i believe that the person is still out there. >> coming up. a serial killers trail goes cold. >> did you notice when the girls were going missing? >> but the danger lingers. >> he may be waiting in some other community to start doing the same thing again. >> and if he is, it may only be a matter of time. when dateline continues. ntinues.

my audible library is just like scroll scroll scroll scroll scroll scroll, it's a lot. i downloaded audible and really, really enjoyed it. and then it kind of just became a lifestyle after that. audible allows me to find a space for myself. you just get way more than you pay for, one of those rare things in life. oh, the audible plus catalog is awesome. it's like having a streaming service, but just for audio content. there's audible originals... there's podcasts... i've used some of the meditations, it helps me relax. mythology, anthropology,

a lot of the -ologies. audible recommended the right audiobooks at the right time. they pretty much have whatever you like. it's really enriched my life in so many ways. i can put on an audiobook, or a podcast, and be transported somewhere that is impossible to go, that is why i love audible. to start your free 30-day trial, just text listen 11 to 500500. like you,

my hands are everything to me. but i was diagnosed with dupuytren's contracture. and it got to the point where things i took for granted got tougher to do. thought surgery was my only option. turns out i was wrong. so when a hand specialist told me about nonsurgical treatments, it was a total game changer. like you, my hands have a lot more to do. learn more at factsonhand.com today. we know how much you count on us... ...and that's why we're here 24/7... like you, my hands have a lot more to do. ...and on the road maintaining a fast and reliable network. we're always working to ensure the internet meets your needs... ...by making access easier for all... ...with comcast lift zones and our internet essentials program. we're invested in making our apps easy... ...to give you personalized assistance around the clock. and we're committed to keeping our team and customers safe by working from home... ...and using precautions in store. it's been years since that see what we're up to at xfinity.com/commitment

summer night when ida lopez first took to the streets of albuquerque's war zone alone, searching for a couple of missing women. these days, she patrols with a partner still looking for the lost. >> the majority of our girls were street level prostitutes. >> and that time, the case had gone from a nightmare for a few flawed souls to a nationwide search for a serial killer, an unidentified man who police chief says may not have succeeded and killing every woman he coaxed into his car. >> he may be waiting in some other community to start doing the same thing again. and what we hope to happen is that someone has had an encounter with this killer will make that phone call to us and we can link that individual to these crimes that have occurred here in albuquerque.

>> if these women had been blond, white and, from the right part of town, would you guys have sounded the alarm sooner? >> what makes this case unique is several of these victims were missing for months before anyone ever reported the missing. also, again, it goes back to the lifestyle. women very often involved in prostitution is not uncommon for them to go missing for weeks and months at a time. >> that was true than, and it's true today. out in the war zone, there's a new crop of ragged women on the streets willing to the some sell themselves in return for a puff of smoke from a class pipe. >> i want to talk to you. >> most of the new girls either never knew or barely remember the women whose places they've taken. >> and whatever you tell us, it's no judgment at all. okay? >> but some do. and in spite of their example, they can't quit the life. >> did you notice when the girls were going missing? >> the police say they have half a dozen suspects on their radar at any given time, so far

they haven't been able to illuminate and or arrests any of them. >> it's a cold case. and so you have to recreate and you have to kind of go back in the time machine so to speak to that era for that time in these people's lives and memories fade, and witnesses disappear and some just don't want to be part of any more. >> many who lost friends and relatives to the west mesa gravedigger are convinced there is still someone somewhere who knows something. because, they suppose, all those earlier rumors about the women being deducted, killed, and dumped in the desert had to have started somewhere. was it all hot air or did someone with knowledge of the murders makes a kernel of truth into those rumors? >> we're not the only family they got a call saying that there, you know, sister, daughter, was murdered and buried out there. >> somebody was trying to send

a message at some point. >> could never trace it back. it led them to a dead end. >> when we spoke to dan and camilla valdez, both believe michelle's killer was still alive. but dent preferred to dwell on the things he knew for sure. >> i love you michelle. i miss you han. >> that he once had a daughter and michelle who is the light of his life. that once she was lost and that now she's found. >> and we will see justice served. i love, you can. >> i know 100% that my daughter is not alive. i know an uncomfortable with the fact that they identified her as my daughter. i am comfortable with the fact that we gave her a proper burial as a human being should be varied. and i'm happy and satisfied

with that. >> ida lopez began this case with the mantra that everybody counts. it took years but in the end, ida was able to make everybody care. so this day, above her desk hang faded photos of the woman on her list alongside a line of scripture that reads, nothing is hidden except to be revealed. it's a quote familiar to homicide detectives everywhere. >> and what information do you have? >> and it's not just there for inspiration. for ida lopez, it's a mission statement. >> i have to keep believing that will find an answer soon. soon could be months. soon could be years. but i just have to keep believing that today could be the day, today could be the day. >> what about those last seven girls? do you think you'll ever find them? >> i think we will. >> one of those women, severe

amara, was found alive and well a few weeks after this story first aired in december 2010. remember, severe up more ahead been the one woman who had gone misting after prime suspect lorenzo montoya had been shot and killed. these are the women still on ideas list. anna vigil. shawntell waites. felipa gonzalez. nina herron. vanessa reed. and leah peebles. >> we're looking. and will keep looking. i pray don't have to tell another mom or dad he. but it's the same background, same area. and there's someone out there. >> maybe ida lopez will find those answers here in the same sunbaked desert sand that once hit this mystery and then later revealed it. but the problem, then as now,

is time. and this desert doesn't give up its secrets easily. this sunday, party purge. >> i have lost confidence. >> republicans move to oust liz cheney from party leadership. >> i have heard from members on her ability to carry out the message. >> the message cheney has been sending. >> president trump claimed for months that the election was stolen and set about to do everything to steal it himself. >> you consistently speak out against the leader of our party chiefs. >> she's made a determination that the republican party can't grow with president trump. i've determined we can't grow

without him.