The West Mesa Bone Collector is the moniker given to an unidentified, suspected serial killer who systematically targeted and murdered at least 11 women, with a significant number of them being sex workers, between 2001 and 2005.
The perpetrator buried all their bodies in a mass grave located in the desert of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Over time, a number of men have attracted police attention, though not named as full suspects, in connection with the murders.
Lorenzo Montoya resided less than three miles from the burial site. In 2006, there were reportedly dirt trails leading from his trailer park to the site.
He had been arrested twice for violent assaults on sex workers and had threatened to kill his girlfriend and bury her in lime.
According to his co-workers, he had discussed plans to kill women and bury them on the West Mesa.
In December 2006, Montoya fatally strangled a teenage sex worker at his trailer, only to be subsequently shot and killed by the teenager's boyfriend.
Following his death, it seems that the killings ceased.
While searching Montoya's home detectives came across a compelling piece of evidence, a home recording found on Montoya's camera.
According to police, the first part of the video shows Montoya having intercourse with an unidentified and possibly dead woman before fading to black.
In December 2010, Scott Lee Kimball, a convicted serial killer from Colorado, claimed that he was under investigation for the West Mesa murders, although he denied any involvement in the killings of the women.
In 2014, Albuquerque police l became interested in Joseph Blea as a suspect for the murders.
Blea earned the nickname "Mid-School Rapist" for his actions during the 1980s. Police allege that he frequently burglarized the homes of girls aged 13 to 15 who resided near McKinley Middle School in Albuquerque, subjecting them to sexual assault.
In one case, there was a DNA sample but the rape test kit was not re-tested until 2010, eventually linking Blea to the rape.
In 2015, police also suspected Blea of being involved in the killing of a sex worker after his DNA sample was discovered on the inner waistband and belt of the deceased.
Furthermore, a tree tag from a nursery was discovered in the vicinity where the bodies of the West Mesa victims were buried. This tag was traced back to a nursery that Blea had previously visited.
Blea is currently serving a 36-year sentence for the Mid-School rape case, but he has not been charged in connection with the West Mesa case.
It’s also been noted that a tip provided anonymously to authorities at the APD and FBI connected the murders to a suspect originating from Central America.
Additionally, police have speculated about the potential involvement of a sex trafficking ring operating through neighboring Texas.
Numerous individuals and theories have caught the attention of the police, yet the identity of the West Mesa Killer remains unknown.