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How Borderland Detectives Discovered Juan David Ortiz's Serial Killings · Murder Files Unsealed

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Laredo, Texas. When I hear that, I think sunshine, maybe
• 0:03
  some good text, Max. Not exactly where you'd expect a
• 0:06
  chilling mystery to unfold, right, But that's what we're diving
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  into today, right, the murders of Melissa Ramirez and Claudine
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  Luerra back in September twenty eighteen.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and the material you've got for us is more
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  than just a summary of the events, that really digs
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  into the whole investigation. It's fascinating stuff, it really is.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, So let's start with Melissa Ramirez September fourth, twenty eighteen.
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  Her body's found on this deserted gravel road. Shot in
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  the head, shot in the neck. I mean, it's brutal.
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  What was it about those initial reports that really stood
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  out to you?
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  Speaker 2: Well, you know, every detail matters at that stage, but
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  the thing that really jumped out at me was the
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  defensive wound on her wrist. Oh yeah, I mean, here's
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  this woman alone on that road, fighting back against her attacker.
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  It's a small detail, but it speaks volumes about the
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  violence of the crime, you know, absolutely, And it says
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  a lot about Melissa's courage, her will to survive, even
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  in those final moments.
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  Speaker 1: That kind of detail always hits me hard that even
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  when face was something terrifying, that instinct to fight for
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  your life is still there.
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  Speaker 2: It's human nature.
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  Speaker 1: The sources also talk about point four euro caliber casings
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  found at the scene. Did that strike you as significant
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  right away?
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  Speaker 2: Honestly, at that point, everything's potentially significant. It's like they're
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  piecing together this horrible puzzle right right, and they're grasping
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  at any clue, any small detail that could lead them
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  to the killer. Those casings, the location, everything about Melissa's
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  life becomes a potential piece of the puzzle.
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  Speaker 1: It makes you realize the pressure those investigators must be under. Absolutely,
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  and in this case, we've got Captain Caldron and Ranger
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  Selena's leading the charge. Reading about them, you really get
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  a sense of like their dedication, but also the weight
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  of the case just bearing down on them.
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  Speaker 2: Oh totally. You can tell they're seasoned investigators. They've seen
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  their share of tough cases, but this one, the urgency
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  just keeps building with every passing day. And as that happens,
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  it really underscores the fact that whoever did this is
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  still out there, potentially free to hurt someone. Else.
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  Speaker 1: It's a chilling thought for sure, and they do end
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  up hurting someone else. Just nine days after Melissa's body
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  is found, everything changes. September thirteenth, a truck driver calls
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  in what he thinks is a hit and run. Turns
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  out to be Claudine Lauera. The details about the paramedics
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  arriving at that scene, it sounds chaotic, yeah.
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  Speaker 2: And it really makes you think about how easily things
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  can be misinterpreted, even by you know, trained professionals.
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  Speaker 1: Right.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, the initial assumption of a hit and run
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  makes sense, right, You've got the location, you've got a
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  potential witness.
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  Speaker 1: It seems straightforward exactly.
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  Speaker 2: But then you get those paramedics on the scene and
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  they're finding Claudine disoriented. She's combative, mumbling it's just not
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  adding up.
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  Speaker 1: No, it doesn't sound like your typical hit and run victim,
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  not at all.
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  Speaker 2: And it's not until they get her to the hospital
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  they do an x ray that they discover the gunshot
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  wound to the head.
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  Speaker 1: Wow, So they go in think one thing.
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  Speaker 2: In complete turnaround.
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  Speaker 1: It's like a scene from a movie totally. I mean,
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  can you imagine what must have been going through those
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  paramedics minds.
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  Speaker 2: Oh absolutely. And what's really interesting here is how this incident,
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  this supposed auto pedestrian call, ends up on Captain Calderon's desk.
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  Speaker 1: Right, because he's leading the investigation into Melissa's murder exactly.
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  Speaker 2: And while we don't get to read about his exact
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  reaction when he gets that call, you can just tell
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  his gut is telling him something's off.
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  Speaker 1: Like he's picking up on those inconsistencies we were just
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  talking about exactly.
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  Speaker 2: You know, after years of working these cases, you develop
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  a kind of sixth sense, and as more details come
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  out about the scene, her belongings scattered around, her purse, notebooks,
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  her cell phone, it starts to look really suspicious.
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  Speaker 1: Because it sounds a lot like the scene where Melissa.
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  Speaker 2: Was found exactly. Remember those everyday items we were talking
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  about from Melissa's case, Yeah, suddenly they're not so insignificant anymore,
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  are they.
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  Speaker 1: No, it's those kinds of details that really drive home
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  that we're talking about real people.
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  Speaker 2: Here, absolutely, real people with real lives.
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  Speaker 1: And then, of course there are the point forty caliber
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  casings they found at Claudine's scene.
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  Speaker 2: Too, Yeah, just like at Melissa's. But the real game changer.
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  The thing that connected these two women, it was Claudine's ID.
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  Speaker 1: Because it proved they knew each other exactly. So now
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  it's not just the point forty caliber casings. It's not
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  just that they were both nurses. It's not just that
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  they were found so close to each other. But now
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  we know Claudine and Melissa had some kind of connection.
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  That's going to have everyone in Laredo on edge.
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  Speaker 2: Oh absolutely, I mean imagine, right, this realization that someone
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  is targeting women in your community and the authorities don't
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  seem to be able to stop it. The fear must
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  have been just palpable.
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  Speaker 1: And for Caldrown, I mean, this totally changes the game.
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  He's not just investigating a couple of isolated homicides anymore.
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  Speaker 2: Right, It's like everything he thought he knew about the
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  case gets flipped on its head. Those point forty caliber casings,
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  the fact that both victims were nurses, the proximity of
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  the crime scenes, and now this connection between Melissa and Claudine.
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  It all points out something much darker, much more intentional.
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  He's dealing with a serial predator.
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  Speaker 1: And that's a terrifying thought. It's not just about solving
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  these two murders. Now it's about making sure there isn't
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  a third or fourth exactly.
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  Speaker 2: The stakes are just so much higher. And while the
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  sources we have don't really go into detail about how
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  the investigation unfolded after this point, you can just imagine,
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  you know, the pressure that called her on and his
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  team must have been under to find this guy before
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  he could hurt anyone else.
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  Speaker 1: It really makes you think about Melissa and Claudine, their lives,
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  you know, what led them to cross paths with this person.
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  It's really easy to get caught up in the details
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  of the investigation and forget about the human cost of
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  these crimes.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's easy to get lost in the weeds. But
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  behind every piece of evidence, every case file, there's a
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  human story. Melissa Claudine. They had families, friends, hopes, dreams,
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  and all of that was taken away, and it's important
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  to remember that, to remember the victims.
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  Speaker 1: It's a good reminder that there's always more to this
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  story than what we see on the surface. Thank you
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  for bringing us this material today. It's a chilling story,
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  but an important one, and it definitely leaves us with
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  a lot to think about