A Bone Jutting from a Dusty Trail Led to a Horrifying Find — and the Hunt for ‘Bone Collector’ Serial Killer

Sixteen years after 11 women and an unborn child were discovered buried on Albuquerque’s West Mesa, the person responsible — often referred to as the “West Mesa Bone Collector” — has still not been identified. For the families left behind, the search for answers has never stopped.

The case began on February 2, 2009, when Christine Ross was walking with her dog, Ruca, along a dusty trail near 118th Street SW. She noticed a bone sticking out of the ground and texted a photo to her sister, a registered nurse. The reply was immediate: it looked like a human femur.

That moment set off an excavation that would become the largest homicide investigation in the Albuquerque Police Department’s history.

As investigators dug into the area, they uncovered a series of shallow graves. The remains belonged to women who had disappeared between 2001 and 2005. Most were Latina sex workers in their 20s, though some were as young as 15. Many had vanished without formal missing-person reports, and several cases had received little attention at the time — leaving families to search on their own.

One of the victims was Veronica Romero, 27, who went missing in 2004. Her boyfriend, Clay Dean, later told A&E True Crime that the area where many of the women worked was saturated with exploitation and danger.

“It was literally like Walmart for vice,” he said, describing a scene where sex workers, clients, dealers, and police all crossed paths and knew one another.

Former APD cold case investigator Liz Thomson told CBS News that the killer likely relied on charm and familiarity to lure victims.

“He was likely someone charming or friendly, in order to build trust or a relationship of some kind with the woman first,” Thomson said. “This person is a predator. He sought out vulnerable women.”

Over the years, investigators have focused heavily on two men as major persons of interest: Joseph Blea and Lorenzo Montoya.

Blea, a convicted rapist now serving a 90-year prison sentence, was allegedly seen by police cruising the area where sex workers gathered and picking women up, according to A&E. Investigators also found a plant tag near one set of remains. Authorities believed it could be connected to Blea’s landscaping work.

“We went through thousands of receipts from nurseries, but weren’t able to connect Blea to the murders,” former detective Paul Geier told A&E.

While Blea’s DNA has helped secure convictions in other rape cases, officials have not announced any DNA match linking him to the West Mesa victims. Blea has denied involvement.

Montoya lived close to the burial site and was known for violence toward sex workers. In 2006, he strangled a teenage sex worker and was shot dead by her boyfriend before police could arrest him. During the 2009 excavation, investigators found tire tracks running from the burial site toward a street near Montoya’s former home.

“We lost [Montoya], who I think was probably our best suspect,” Geier said. “He lived a very short distance from the burial zone.”

But because Montoya died before he could be charged — and because of restrictions in New Mexico law — his DNA has not been uploaded to CODIS, the FBI’s national DNA database, for comparison.

The investigation has produced nearly 1,200 tips, and police have interviewed around 200 women with drug or prostitution-related arrests, according to CBS News. Authorities also say eight women with similar backgrounds remain missing, raising concern that more victims may still be undiscovered. A task force continues to audit every tip and lead to ensure nothing is overlooked.

Additional searches have taken place over the years. Police used ground-penetrating radar in follow-up sweeps and re-examined other cold cases for possible connections. A 2021 search prompted by a tip turned up no new evidence, CBS reported.

One of the enduring obstacles has been the condition of the remains. Investigators have struggled to determine definitive causes of death.

“These women weren’t shot. There was no evidence that they were shot and killed or blunt force trauma,” Thomson said in a 2022 APD video.

Authorities believe strangulation was likely in most cases, but the years underground left little recoverable forensic proof. APD has not said whether any usable suspect DNA was found at the site, noting that the state of the remains has sharply limited testing options.

That challenge is compounded by New Mexico’s DNA law, which prevents police from uploading DNA from deceased suspects — like Montoya — into CODIS unless they were charged before death. Earlier this year, APD Commander Kyle Hartsock told KRQE the department is supporting legislation to change that.

“We want to know: is he tied to other cases of sexual assaults, violent attacks, murders? But right now, we’re not allowed to,” Hartsock said.

A $100,000 reward remains in place for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

“The lack of closure in such a massive tragedy continues to confound families and friends,” Dean said.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the 118th Street Task Force at 505-768-2450 or Crime Stoppers at 505-843-STOP.