Bones of 11th body found near Albuquerque
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Police have unearthed an 11th body from the mesa west of Albuquerque as their investigation heats up with the identification through dental records of a pregnant victim found at the city's largest ever crime scene.
Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz said Wednesday the body they discovered Monday, the ninth, is that of Michelle Valdez. She was pregnant at the time of her disappearance and they are counting her fetus as the 10th of the 11 bodies.
Police have been searching an area 30 yards by 10 yards since Feb. 2 when a hiker found a human bone in an area recently razed for a housing development.
Police suspect one person is responsible for burying the bodies in the area, but say it is too premature to name suspects.
They have, however, been able to identify one other set of bones as those belonging to Victoria Chavez. The remaining bones await DNA testing.
Chavez and Valdez are included in a list of 16 women who went missing in Albuquerque between 2001 and 2006. The women all struggled with drug addiction, had a history of prostitution and led transient lives.
Family members have come forward to submit dental records of their missing loved ones, the key to the Chavez and Valdez identifications.
"We can link these two victims by these victims having a similar lifestyle," Schultz said.
Valdez's mother, Karen Jackson of Myrtle Beach, S.C., said though her daughter had made some bad decisions, she was loved by her family.
"We never gave up trying to find her," Jackson said.
Valdez's father, who lives in Albuquerque, reported her missing in 2005, months after she stopped coming around to borrow money and check in with her family.
Jackson said Valdez leaves behind two children, but declined to say who's caring for them. Police have said Valdez's fetus was about four-months-old.
Archaeologists and medical investigators helping police excavate the crime scene have been able to confirm detailed information about what they find and help police tell the difference between human remains and animal bones, Schultz said.
Digging continues at the site, which has been so disturbed by bulldozers and scavenging animals that remains have been scattered across a 100-acre area. But the excavation has been concentrated on an area following a natural desert wash, which Schultz said had been filled with up to 15 feet of dirt by construction workers preparing the site for homes.
Police are forming a task force of about 20 agents and plan to set up a hot line as the task force begins work later this week.
Schultz said once the task force is up and running, anyone with tips or suspicions that someone they know is buried at the site can give them to the detectives.
"We still have people showing up at the crime scene, people wanting to talk about loved ones," Schultz said.
He said the task force will consider these cases, as well as going through missing persons reports going back 20 years.
"There is a lot of work still to be done," Schultz said.