Las Desaparecidas

Missing Women of New Mexico

I wrote a post about the women found on the West Mesa, and the women who have not been found, under “The Women of the West Mesa.” 

In 2001, women of Albuquerque began to go missing. (Prior to 2001, one missing woman fits a similar profile as the women below: In 1999, 19 year old Jeanette Maria DelaCruz went missing from her home. She has never been found.)

 

2001

  • Darlene Trujillo

2002

  • Sonia Lente– found deceased in 2004, likely unrelated

2003

2004

  • Yvonne Lopez**
  • Victoria Chavez – found, deceased
  • Veronica Romero – found, deceased
  • Evelyn Salazar – found, deceased
  • Jamie Barela – found, deceased
  • Syllania Edwards – found, deceased
  • Tiffany Reid**
  • Virginia Cloven – found, deceased
  • Cinnamon Elks – found, deceased
  • Julie Nieto – found, deceased
  • Michelle Valadez, pregnant – found, deceased

2005

 

2006

The women who were found deceased were all found in 2009, in a desolate area of Albuquerque known as the west mesa, all of them having gone missing in 2003 or 2004. The other women listed are still missing. There are two persons of interest, one deceased and one in prison, but there has been no public update on the case, though police say it is ongoing. 
 
*Sonia, although originally thought to matching the profile of the other missing, was found deceased in 2004, likely in a separate incident. I do not believe her killer has been found. 
**Brenda, Martha Jo, Yvonne, Tiffany, Selfa, and Jillian were not included on my last post. They had similar profiles, in my unprofessional opinion, but have not been linked to the case by the police, as far as I am aware. 

Missing Women after 2006

No women go missing for two years. At this time, only one detective at APD noticed that there were almost 2 dozen women missing; Ida Lopez, who was the one-woman missing persons unit. At this point, nobody but the killer was aware of the grave, and other than detective Lopez and the families of the women, nobody knew they were missing. 
 

2008

  • Alesha Brookshier – friends last saw her with her husband in Aztec county, but he came home without her
  • Darla McCormack – Darla was last seen leaving the jail where she worked in Carlsbad. Her keys, purse, etc were found in her house. 

2009

  • Lily Lopez – Lily was last seen walking home in Socorro (south of Albuquerque by about 1 hour, or 74 miles). 
Again, two years pass before any women in New Mexico go missing. However, in February of 2009, the murdered women are found on the West Mesa. 
 

2011

  • Janson Secody – missing from Aztec, after walking to work and not coming home (unclear if she actually made it to work).

2012

  • Cindy Rivera – last seen in Las Vegas, NM (yes, there’s a Las Vegas there, too!)
  • Kathy Paquin- 62, last seen at her Albuquerque home on August 1st. 

2013

  • Cynthia Deppe – 50, last seen on October 9th in Los Lunas (20 minutes away from the south valley of Albuquerque)

2014

2015

2016

  • Theresa Concha – Theresa is homeless and has family in the Taos Pueblo, New Mexico area. She also has family on the San Carlos Apache Reservation in Arizona. She has had no contact with her sister or her son in two years. Exact date of last contact is unknown.
 
This will be continued, as soon as I get the opportunity.