The West Mesa Murders: Albuquerque's Buried Mystery

In 2009, a woman walking her dog in Albuquerque discovered a human bone in disturbed soil, unearthing the remains of 11 women and girls buried on the West Mesa. This episode examines how a quirk of the 2008 housing crash exposed a burial site that might otherwise have been paved over, and the hunt for a killer dubbed the Bone Collector.The discussion explores the vulnerable profile of the victims, a detective who had nearly predicted the discovery, and the dizzying list of suspects that followed. From sex-trafficking theories tied to regional events to local men hiding in plain sight, the case illustrates the agonizing limits of circumstantial evidence and ends with the memorial that reclaims the site for the women who were found there.How development halted by the financial crisis inadvertently surfaced the bonesDetective Ida Lopez's list, where 10 of 11 victims already appearedThe confusing release of photos showing unidentified womenLocal suspects Lorenzo Montoya and Joseph Blea and the evidence against themThe Women's Memorial Park opened in 2020 on the burial site