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Thursday, February 26, 2009
Pregnant Victim Identified
By Jeff Proctor
Journal Staff Writer
Police have identified a second victim whose body was buried on the far Southwest Mesa. Police Chief Ray Schultz also announced Wednesday that the body count on the dusty, partly developed patch of mesa near Dennis Chavez and 118th SW had reached 11.
Late Tuesday, investigators unearthed another nearly complete set of remains less than 20 feet from where the 10th victim's body was found Monday morning.
Both of the identified victims were female prostitutes with criminal histories. Both were in their 20s and were reported missing less than six months apart in late 2004 and early 2005.
"We have linked two of the victims with similar lifestyles now," Schultz told a news conference Wednesday. "That gives detectives a good place to start. This is where the real work begins. At some point in time, their lives crossed paths ... whether it was each other or some other individual who was involved in their deaths."
The chief reiterated that police believe all the victims were female and were buried on the mesa by the same person, but said it would be "too premature" to say the deaths are the work of a serial killer.
The second identified victim, Gina Michelle Valdez, was pregnant when her body was buried, police say. Investigators uncovered her nearly complete skeleton, along with that of her 4-month-old fetus, on Saturday as they continued excavating what Schultz calls "one of the largest crime scenes in Albuquerque history."
The Office of the Medical Investigator identified Valdez's remains through dental records late Tuesday, Schultz said.
Her father had reported her missing in February 2005.
The first set of remains, found more than two weeks ago, belonged to Victoria Chavez, whose family reported her as a missing "prostitute and drug user" in 2004.
Chavez and Valdez were both among the names of 24 prostitutes or suspected prostitutes reported missing from 2001 to 2006, Albuquerque police Cmdr. Mike Geier said Wednesday.
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