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West Mesa Murders · Murder Files Unsealed

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Get ready for a case. It's both baffling and heartbreaking.
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  The West Mesa murders. Eleven women vanished in Albuquerque, and
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  for years their disappearances were barely noticed. We're really going
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  to dig into what we know and what we don't
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  about this case. You with me.
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  Speaker 2: It's incredible how the landscape both hid this secret and
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  then eventually revealed it. We're talking about the West Mesa,
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  a desolate area on the edge.
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  Speaker 1: Of the city, the perfect place to hide something you never.
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  Speaker 2: Want found right exactly, But the desert doesn't hold onto
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  its secrets forever, does it.
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  Speaker 1: And in this case, it became a graveyard. But not
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  just any graveyard. The bodies were found in two thousand
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  and nine because of the housing market crash. Remember how
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  construction just stopped.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely we're still seeing the ripple effects of that. That
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  land was going to be developed, but then the market
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  crashed and everything just stopped. And then nature intervened. Flooding
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  forced the developer to build a retaining.
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  Speaker 1: Wall, and that's when the earth gave up its secret,
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  a mass grave.
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  Speaker 2: It makes you wonder how many other crimes are hidden
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  just beneath the surface, just waiting to be discovered.
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  Speaker 1: It's a chilling thought. But this wasn't just about time
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  or nature, right, This was about eleven women.
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  Speaker 2: Eleven women, all between fifteen and thirty two, most of
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  them Hispanic. Many were caught in the struggles of addiction
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  or sex work.
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  Speaker 1: These were daughters, sisters, friends. We have to remember that
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  their stories deserve to be heard, not just as statistics,
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  but as individuals. Like Selenia Edwards, just fifteen years old,
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  a runaway from Oklahoma.
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  Speaker 2: Imagine being that young, so far from home. Makes you
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  wonder was this a lone predator or something much more organized,
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  something more sinister.
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  Speaker 1: Like a sex trafficking ring.
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  Speaker 2: It's a horrifying thought, and authorities have been looking into
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  that possibility, especially around events like the New Mexico State Fair.
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  Speaker 1: So you're saying, these events that are meant to bring
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  people together, could they also be magnets for exploitation.
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  Speaker 2: Large crowds, cash flowing, people coming and going. It creates
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  opportunities for traffickers.
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  Speaker 1: Albuquerque is at a crossroad, it's a major transportation.
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  Speaker 2: Hub, exactly. It's a theory that has to be considered.
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  And then there's the case of Lorenzo Montoya.
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  Speaker 1: Now that's a name that sends chills down your spine.
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  Speaker 2: He had a history of violence against sex workers, and
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  he was living very close to the burial site.
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  Speaker 1: Not just close, there were dirt trails that reportedly connected
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  his trailer park to where those bodies were found. And
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  here's the thing that gets me. Montoya was killed just
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  a year before the bodies were discovered. He was killed
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  in a confrontation with victim's boyfriend.
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  Speaker 2: It makes you wonder if that was the end of
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  his killing spree or.
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  Speaker 1: Was it just a horrible coincidence.
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  Speaker 2: And then there's that home video they found in Montoya's possession.
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  Only a portion of it has been released, but it
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  shows him with a woman. It's not clear if she's
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  a live or already dead. And then the video cuts out.
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  Speaker 1: Wait, you're saying, this woman on the tape could be
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  another victim.
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  Speaker 2: Police release screenshots they were hoping someone would come forward
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  and identify her, but so far, no.
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  Speaker 1: Luck in the audio.
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  Speaker 2: What about the audio, Let's just say it doesn't sound good.
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  It sounds like something awful was about to happen.
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  Speaker 1: So could this video connect Montoya to a larger trafficking.
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  Speaker 2: Ring or is it a red herring?
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  Speaker 1: We just don't know, it's like we're looking into the
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  abyss and we have no idea how deep it goes.
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  Please release photos in twenty ten, photos of seven unidentified women,
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  some of them look unconscious, haunting photos. Were those potential victims?
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  Were they connected to the case? What do you think
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  about those photos?
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  Speaker 2: They just add another layer of mystery to all of this.
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  It's almost unbearable. Are these missing pieces of the puzzle?
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  Are they totally unrelated? We just don't know. And every
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  unanswered question just amplifies the need for answers, the need
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  for justice.
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  Speaker 1: And speaking of unanswered questions, Montoya isn't the only name
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  that comes up in this case. We have to talk
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  about Joseph Blee, the mid school rapist, right he was
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  already serving time for assaulting young girls. Yeah, this was
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  back in the eighties, So what's the connection to the
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  West Mason murders.
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  Speaker 2: The timing is eerie. Blee was in Albuquerque when these
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  women disappeared. And then there's the detail about that tree tag.
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  Speaker 1: You're the one found at the burial.
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  Speaker 2: Site, the very same and it was traced back to
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  a nursery that Blee went to.
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  Speaker 1: It's almost as if we have all the pieces, but
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  we can't put the puzzle together. Was Blee involved in
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  the West Mason murders or is this just a horrifying
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  coincidence two monsters in the same city.
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  Speaker 2: It's definitely a possibility and a terrifying one. But it
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  also begs the question was he working alone? Could he
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  have been part of something.
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  Speaker 1: Bigger, like a sex trafficking ring?
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  Speaker 2: Exactly? Could Blee have been involved could Montoya? Were they
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  working together or were they just independent predators praying on
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  the same women.
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  Speaker 1: You mentioned an anonymous tip earlier. What can you tell
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  me about that?
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  Speaker 2: Oh?
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  Speaker 1: Right?
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  Speaker 2: The tip linked the murders to a suspect from Central
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  America and suggested that organized crime.
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  Speaker 1: Might be involved. Organized crime, and you.
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  Speaker 2: Know, given where Albuquerque is its location, it's definitely something to.
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  Speaker 1: Consider because it's a transportation hub.
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  Speaker 2: Exact, traffickers blend in. They want to operate in the
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  shadows and big events like the State Fair with lots
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  of people and cash, those are opportunities.
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  Speaker 1: It's just awful, and often the victims are completely ignored
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  or silenced. They're already marginalized.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly, They're afraid, or they're trapped, or society has turned
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  a blind eye to them. It's why these cases are
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  so important. They force us to look at these uncomfortable.
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  Speaker 1: Truths, because this isn't just about catching a killer. This
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  is about understanding how these tragedies happen in the first place.
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  It's about giving a voice to those who don't have one,
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  demanding justice for them. But what does justice even look
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  like in a case this complex, this devastating.
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  Speaker 2: It's the question, isn't it.
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  Speaker 1: It really makes you think these were just names in
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  a case file. These were eleven women with families, with friends,
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  with lives they hoped for.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, and you're right, we can't forget that. Sadly, so
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  often when we hear that the victims struggled with addiction
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  or were involved and sex work, it's like people stop
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  seeing them as human.
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  Speaker 1: They become invisible.
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  Speaker 2: It's easy to forget that each of these women had
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  a story, a whole life that mattered, and their lives
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  shouldn't be defined by how they ended.
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  Speaker 1: It's tragic. What do you think is the most important
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  thing for us to take away from a case like this?
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  Speaker 2: We have to look at the bigger picture. What could
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  have been done to protect these women? Where did the
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  support systems fail? How can we as a society prevent
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  something like this from happening again?
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  Speaker 1: Tough questions, but important ones. We can't ignore them. The
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  West Mason murders are still unsolved, but that doesn't mean
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  we can't learn from them exactly.
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  Speaker 2: This investigation, as horrible as it was, it showed us
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  a side of Albuquerque that most people don't want to see,
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  the reality of sex trafficking, how vulnerable some communities are,
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  and how much needs to change.
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  Speaker 1: And you hope it sparked some action. Maybe someone out
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  there knows something and will finally come forward, or maybe
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  there'll be more support for vulnerable people.
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  Speaker 2: We can always hope the very least.
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  Speaker 1: It reminds us that even in the darkest times, there
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  are still people fighting for justice, fighting for a better world.
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  Speaker 2: That's a good thought.
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  Speaker 1: We need hope, right we do. We can choose to
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  let these stories terrify us, or we can use them
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  to create change. What are your thoughts on that.
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  Speaker 2: It's a choice we all have to mate. Are we
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  going to ignore the darkness? Or are we going to
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  face it and fight for better for ourselves, for our communities,
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  for everyone.
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  Speaker 1: Well said, and on that note, we want to leave
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  you with this What can you do in your own
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  life to make your community a little safer, a little kinder.
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  Think about it until next time, Keep asking questions, and
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  keep fighting for a world where stories like this one
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  are no longer possible