NM attorney general unveils cold-case unit to assist local agencies

Erilaina Chavez was found shot to death in 2017 after the Navajo Nation member began driving home from her job in Gallup.

The McKinley County killing was one of three unsolved killings highlighted Tuesday when New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced a new cold-case unit intended to use new DNA technology to help solve complex cases.

“We’re specifically focused on unsolved homicides and unsolved sexual assaults, with a particular emphasis on DNA that has been collected in those cases,” Torrez said at a news conference.

The unit’s three law enforcement officers will use a commercial genealogy website and DNA database — GEDmatch — to help identify suspects missed by previous investigations, Torrez said.

In the McKinley County case, investigators believe Chavez picked up two hitchhikers on historic U.S. Route 66 west of Gallup on her way home from work on Jan. 10, 2017, McKinley County Sheriff James Maiorano said.

“These unknown assailants shot her in the back, dumped her out of the vehicle and stole the victim’s vehicle,” Maiorano said at the news conference at the New Mexico Department of Justice.

Chavez’s truck was found two days later at the Manuelito Chapter House, but her killer or killers were never identified.

“Regrettably, we were not able to get any DNA matches at that time,” Maiorano said. “We are hopeful that this partnership with the New Mexico Department Justice and access to this advanced DNA technology can close this case.”

Forensic genealogy techniques may help solve the killing because investigators were able to collect DNA samples from Chavez’s truck, Torrez said.

In Bernalillo County, GEDmatch was used to charge Angel Gurule in connection with a 2015 rape in the Rio Grande bosque. Gurule was sentenced in 2020 to 12 years in prison for two counts of criminal sexual penetration.

Forensic genealogy starts with DNA samples obtained in criminal cases. “We then compare it to an open-source database that most people utilize for the purposes of looking into their family history,” Torrez said.

Once a common ancestor is identified, “that information is turned over to a trained genealogist who works forward in time to identify a suspect.

“We then go and obtain a direct DNA sample from that individual,” Torrez said. Traditional investigative work is required to complete the investigations, he said.

Chavez’s killing is one of six unsolved cases that the unit will focus on initially, Torrez said.

Two other cases outlined Tuesday are:

• Jack Lee Elkins was found killed by a gunshot in his home on Nov. 7, 1992, behind his business, the Correo Trading Post, in Valencia County. Elkins was Valencia County sheriff from 1967-1971.
• Annie Tapia of Santa Fe was found beaten to death at San Franciscan Liquors on March 23, 1995. Tapia was killed by blunt force trauma to her head.

Torrez said he is highlighting the three cases in hopes of developing new leads in those cases.

“Perhaps there is a witness or someone with information about one of these three cases that has an opportunity now to come forward and provide new information to law enforcement,” he said.