any unsolved violent crimes please contact your local "[5], Authorities are now trying to build a DNA profile from evidence found at the scene. August 3, 2017 @ The motive of the massacre was robbery;about $5,000 was stolen. Uncovered is where the most passionate true crime enthusiasts can learn from and teach others. No one was ever convicted of her murder. Why hasnt anyone from either the United States or Mexico try to tie them to together instead of believeing that these men are alive still? The gunmen then shot all seven victims multiple times at point-blank range. As previously mentioned, in recent years, massive advancements in DNA technology, as well as updates and changes in law enforcement and forensic protocols, have led to hundreds, if not thousands, of decades-old cold cases being solved. Soon after, Steve Teran, the alley's 26-year-old pin mechanic, entered. It Should Be Illegal To Drive Through Pie Town, New Mexico Without Stopping At Does & Bucks Coffee & Cafe, 7 Quirky Facts About New Mexico That Sound Made Up, But Are 100% Accurate, The Tsankawi Unit At Bandelier National Monument In New Mexico Will Be Closing In Mid-March: Heres What To Do In The Meantime, This New Mexico Flea Market Attracts 4,000 People With Over 400 Merchants On-Site, 13 Things Youll Remember If You Grew Up In The 80s In New Mexico, The Story Of The Serial Killer Who Terrorized This Small New Mexico Town Is Truly Frightening, This Bizarre And Long Forgotten New Mexico Mystery Has Yet To Be Solved, Youll Never Forget A Trip To These 10 Wild West Towns In New Mexico. This case is also unsolved. However, the rate of robberies in the state consistently remains below the national average. img4off=new Image(); Such samples could then be run against evidence from other open cases. Dig deeper What do you think about these mysteries? End If img8on.src="../images/btn8_on.jpg"; the biggest unsolved mysteries in New Mexico, Eagle Nest State Park Ice Fishing Tournament. Over three decades later, the Las Cruces bowling alley massacre remains unsolved. img3off=new Image(); . The gunmen appeared to be looking for money, and when they found the safe, they took the cash that was inside. For more New Mexico mysteries, check out Part 2 and Part 3. Ive always wondered if they ever found out who killed Cricket Koogler ( I think thats the way her name was spelled) in the late 1950s. Sloppy at best.tried and failed to eliminate the witnesses.tried and failed to burn the place down. Eyes: Light [Feedback] [Contact] Some of the unsolved mysteries in New Mexico are, unfortunately, all too earthly and human. I think this occurred around 1958. Or, did he use the body of someone who had died in some other way? We believe the more resources we can provide to digital volunteers and citizen solvers mean more citizen detective communities. It has now been 12 years since David Jr. went missing. The Las Cruces bowling alley massacre Flickr/Christopher Octa Foul play is suspected in her disappearance. The mystery surrounds the headless body that was found in Manbys Taos home in July of 1929. function mailer() If you know of any others, keep sharingin the comments. Height: 57 We couldnt include them all in this post, but if we didnt get to your comment, stay tuned for Part 3 in our series of unsolved mysteries in New Mexico. All Rights Reserved. Seven people were shot, four fatally, by two unidentified robbers at the Las Cruces Bowling Alley at 1201 East Amador Avenue. The violent crime rate in New Mexico was around 832.2 per 100,000 inhabitants of the state, according to the 2019 Uniform Crime Report published by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Car lights on, engine running, radio playing, private driveway, mile post 3, Highway 78. if (theYear < 1900) Lorraine was on oxygen and it is unlikely she was able to get to where her remains were found in a very remote part of the campground on her own. Stephanies father and the owner of the bowling alley, Ron Senac, had been in Arizona on a golf trip and quickly travelled home when he heard the news. The business had been foreclosed and Ron was now bankrupt, with $2million in debt. NewMexi.Co They never were mentioned by Mexican authorities to this crime because it just happend right after the bowling alley murders somewhere in Mexico. He was a controversial and wacky figure. Somehow, Stephanie, Melissa and Ida survived the vicious attack. In todays world of technology and forensic science, we dont expect murders or missing persons to remain mysteries for long. On the morning of February 10th, 1990 a horrendous crime, which is still unsolved, occurred in Las Cruces. As Teran had been unable to find a babysitter for his two daughterstwo-year-old Valerie Teran and six-year-old Paula Holguin (no relation to Ida)he intended to drop them off at the alley's day care. x = Document.MyForm.sBegDate.Value In 2011. Submit a Crime Tip Square with arrow pointing upper right. In all, 11+ victims were found and identified over the following year. New Mexico is one of those states that just kind of seems steeped in mystery. img4on.src="../images/btn4_on.jpg"; 12. Your email address will not be published. Helicopters, planes and multiple law enforcement departments quickly got involved, including the Army, U.S Customs and border patrol, all hunting for the shooters. For example, the Federal Bureau of Investigation publishes an annual Uniform Crime Report that shares the types of crimes committed and the crime rates in every state in the country, including a comprehensive report for crime in New Mexico. What are some fascinating unsolved mysteries in New Mexico? Though the killers stole thousands from the bowling alley, Ida told investigators that they were rifling through a filing cabinet after theyd found the money in the safe. My mother told me about a murdered woman being dumped by her father in New Mexico. img7off=new Image(); What about the Springer murders in 2006 or 2007 a friend of mine was at home in her apartment and our other friend we called Springer ran from dead mans curve to tramway banging on the door wielding a knife screaming for her life saying shouting Lisa please help me I killed him she stabbed her husband to death .they where killing people in the springs they call land grant people would run out of gas they life them down to the springs steal the cars part them put Robb them kill them. Hair: Dark, wavy Or . Remarks: Speaks with a slight Spanish accent. Select Homicides We know what happened, but not who did it. streets, maybe even in your neighborhood. There is a multitude of unsolved murders in the state, many of which are quite notorious. There is no way in hell that a crime of this magnitude involving at least two individuals simply fades into oblivion. Roberto Benavidez was a 22-year-old college student at Western New Mexico University in the spring of 2012, when he was found beaten in the head and unconscious in the middle of Aztec Street in Hurley, New Mexico. Learn how your comment data is processed. There was a specific motive involved here and it had to do with this bowling alley for some reason. In certain homicide cases, authorities are able to acquire adequate evidence to charge their prime suspectwith the crime and bring them to Santa Fe County murders trial. Valerie Teran was rushed to a hospital, but declared dead on arrival. Less than one year later, on June 15, 1989, a woman found a photograph in a grocery store parking lot depicting a young woman and a young boy, both of whom were bound with duct tape and appeared to be Tara and another missing child. mail_str ="mailto:webmistress@nmsoh.org?subject=" + document.title; Ron reopened the bowling alley six days after the massacre and attention soon turned to him. All of the girls and women were killed between 2001 and 2005. img4off=new Image(); 2023 Copyright. Sherriff Lawrence Romerosolved this crime. homicide. In the main office, day manager Stephanie Senac was adding up the previous night's receipts. The incident occurred in early February of 1990 at Las Cruces Bowl. By the next day, he had still not returned, sohis colleagues reported him as missing. if (ver == "yes") { M. Michael Henley. (browserName=="Microsoft Internet Explorer" && browserVer >= 4)) ver = "yes"; Their first names were Dorothy and Barbara. Her death was listed as undetermined by the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator. Johnna Russell Juliet can be reached on Twitter @JulietWrites. (l-r) Paula Holguin and Valerie Teran via Sun-News. function mailer() Less than one year later, on June 15, , 1989, a woman found a photograph in a grocery store parking lot depicting a young woman and a young boy, both of whom were bound with duct tape and appeared to be Tara and another missing child. July was the 60th anniversary of the unsolved murder of Hobbsans Dorothy Gibson and Barbara Lemmins and truck driver JD Cantrell, of Carlsbad , who had stopped presumably to assist the two women who had a flat tire. [Search], , [NMSOH] cases remain unsolved, the murderers are walking the Over 30 years later, the bowling alley killings remain a mystery. Both men were gunned down in Mexico in a botch robbery in Mexico right after the Bowling Alley Murders. img6off.src="../images/btn6.jpg"; However, the police reported that this wasnt the case and they often had to track him down. else ver = "no"; Login; Las Cruces, NM Area Cold Cases. Two men - still unidentified - appeared to try and not leave any survivors. An entry of A determined pair is convinced somebody, someone in the community could be the ones to finally uncover the mystery that is the Las Cruces bowling alley massacre. First responders arrived in only a minute, but they discovered a grisly scene. I remember [Lollie] Tiptonabducted from a [convenience store]in the late 1960s early 1970s. function imgOn(imgName) { According to Project: Cold Case, there wereapproximately 6,579 homicides in New Mexico between 1980and 2019. His case has been highlighted on Americas Most Wanted, and in newspapers in New Mexico and Arizona. Thats the question I ask myself every day. For example, David Ortiz Jr. was just 18 years old when he went missing on Halloween night in 2010, just days after he went to court to seek visitation with his infant son, Joshua. However, they learned from her account that the older man had a Spanish accent, but the younger had an American enunciation. img3off.src="../images/btn3.jpg"; By Elva K. sterreich. The younger suspect was in his late 20s, between 56 and 58 in height, with a medium build and around 190lbs. Seventeen days later, her body was found in a hastily dug grave near Mesquite, New Mexico. It sounds like they had an initial plan and then something went wrong and they felt the need to eliminate all the would-be eye witnesses. On the morning of February 10th, 1990, a few staff members were preparing to open the Las Cruces Bowl for the dayamericancrimejournal.com There are many proverbs along the lines of you reap what you sow. As a society, we believe in the idea of seeking justice. The case is unsolved. img9on.src="../images/btn9_on.jpg"; The location of his bodywas roughly three miles from where the unknown caller requested that heperform those last rights. It was when two men walked into a Las Cruces bowling alley and shot seven people execution style including four children. A Nightmare In Las Cruces (Documentary) ABC-7 Xtra: Bowling Alley Massacre . He was found at milepost three on Highway 78, nearby the Arizona border. Two years later, his younger sister, Nichole Marie Leon Ortiz was shot in the head while holding her infant son in her arms on September 29, 2012. mail_str ="mailto:webmistress@nmsoh.org?subject=" + document.title; On August 11, 1961 both girls were killed by gunshot to the head. Stephanie Senac eventually died in 1999, due to issues with her injuries. img8on.src="../images/btn8_on.jpg"; The alleys chef, Ida, was in the kitchen, firing up the fryers and getting ready for the onslaught of children shed be feeding. Many of the recent and past unsolved murdersin Santa Fe, New Mexico, have been solved, most likely due to advancements in DNA technology and improvements in law enforcement protocol. myForm_OnSubmit = True Everything from mysterious disappearances in New Mexico to murders and ghosts - the Land of Enchantment has it all! To this day their murders have not been solved. To date, all we know for sure is it was a robbery-homicide., Non-payment may have caused four lives. Lee and his employees were suspected of murdering Fountain and his son, though nothing was ever proven and nobody was convicted. As Mary Olberg and Sandy Broadbentbrought to our attention, 58 year old Albert Jennings Fountain disappeared from the White Sands in Doa Ana County, New Mexico Territory. Plenty of people had a motive to kill him, yet he also had a motive to kill. The Hobbs news sun has a full write up they did in July of 2017, 60 years later and still unsolved. It makes no sense. MsgBox EMsg,vbCritical,"Unsolved Case Search, Invalid field entry!" Edit descriptionwww.newspapers.com, The Unsolved Las Cruces Bowling Alley Massacre. homicide. Her daughter Melissa Repass survived the attack and is now 34. It wasnt just any murder, but the murder and attempted murder of seven innocent people, including four children and two adults under the age of 35. All three died, along with Melissas friend, Amy. Some examples of the many unsolved murders in northern New Mexico which can be easily found within numerous databases/lists include the 2001 murder of Brian Edmonds, the 1999 double murder of Earl and Clarissa Gonzalez, the 2003 murder of Yvonne Martinez, the 1992 murder of Carla Helmer, and the 2004 murder of Brenda Wright, among many others. I thought I had said something about this story awhile back and its not here so I guess I will just repeat what I mentioned about this story awhile ago. One of the men took the girls into the managers office where a surprised Stephanie was working, and the other went to find Ida in the kitchen. Her remains were located 1.6 miles past the Lower Gallinas Campground outhouses on June 28, 2014. theYear=theYear+1900 A truck driver who had allegedly stopped to assist them with a flat tire was also shot. Three of these victims survived their injuries, and four including two young children did not. Despite the coincidence, police later confirmed that the murder in Rio Rancho was unrelated to the bowling alley killings in Las Cruces; But Amy Housens mother, Gloria wasnt so sure. browserName = navigator.appName; More than 200,000 unsolved cases have gone cold since 1980, and murder clearance rates continue to drop. img6on.src="../images/btn6_on.jpg"; 12-year-old Melissa and her friend Amy Houser, 13, were working at the daycare facility in the bowling alley that day and were preparing the space. Little did we know that we had barely scratched the surface of the world of mysteries in this intriguing state. you will remain anonymous. img6on=new Image(); Between 1980 and 2019, there were approximately 6,579 murders in New Mexico, according to Project: Cold Cases unsolved homicide statistics webpage. } Stephanie's 12-year-old daughter, Melissa, and . img5off=new Image(); img8off=new Image(); img1off.src="../images/btn1.jpg"; [13], This case was featured on Unsolved Mysteries two and a half months after the murders, and on America's Most Wanted twice, once in November 2004 and again in March 2010.[14]. My input would be that a bowling alley would be a very odd place to rob. It was twelve year old Melissa, shot five times, who managed to save the lives of herself, her mother, and the cook by calling 911 after the shooters left. I never did find out what happened to my dad Orlando Valdez they never found a body. By the next day, he had still not returned, so his colleagues reported him as missing. It was about 8:00 A.M. and just an hour before opening time. I dont recall that street name. [1] The alley's cook, Ida Holguin, was in the kitchen when two men entered through an unlocked door. In addition, the homicide rate in New Mexico was around 8.6 per 100,000 residents, according to the same Uniform Crime Report from 2019. if (ver == "yes") { Senac worked at the bowling alley, while the girls worked in the daycare there.