The West Mesa Bone Collector

On February 2, 2009, a woman walking her dog in Albuquerque's West Mesa desert discovered a human bone, which led to the excavation of 11 sets of human remains buried in a five-acre area. The victims were all women between the ages of 15 and 32 — primarily Hispanic or Native American — some of whom had worked in the sex trade and had been reported missing in the early 2000s. A twelfth set of bones, belonging to a fetus, was also found. Despite a prime suspect — Albuquerque man Joseph Blea, who died in prison on unrelated charges in 2010 — the case has never been officially solved.