West Mesa murders
Background and discovery
Due to the 2008 housing bubble collapse, development on the West Side halted before housing could be built at the burial site. After neighbors complained of flooding at the platted site (due to the burial of the natural arroyo), the developer built a retaining wall to channel storm water to a retention pond built in the approximate area of the burial site, inadvertently exposing bones to the surface.
Background and discovery
On February 2, 2009, a woman walking a dog found a human bone on the West Mesa and reported it to police. As a result of the subsequent police investigation, authorities discovered the remains of eleven women and girls, one woman being pregnant, buried in the area. They were between 15 and 32 years of age, most were Hispanic, and they were involved with drugs and sex work. Syllania Edwards, a 15-year-old runaway from Lawton, Oklahoma, was the only African American and the only victim from out of state. Michelle Valdez was four months pregnant at the time of her death.
Confirmed victims
The remains discovered in 2009 were identified as those of the following women and girls, all of whom disappeared between May 2003 and September 2004:
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