In March 1990, the sketch composites were updated and distributed once more to news outlets. In November of 1984, the bodies of Thomas Cotton and Judy McKnight were found in the kitchen of their Lincoln County ranch house. below. The gunmen then shot all seven victims multiple times at point-blank range. La Posada Hotel. [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]. M. Michael Henley. } Sadly, it seems that there may never be an end to the number of New Mexico homicide and true crime stories in New Mexico, despite law enforcements best efforts. Can Do That! www.nmsoh.org email: webmistress@nmsoh.org, Web site design by To view all unsolved cases you may select one of the sorting Approximately 4,302 of those murdershave sincebeen solved, yet there are currently approximately2,277 unsolved murders in New Mexico. Las Cruces author, Paula Moore, wrote about this unsolved mystery in her book Cricket in the Web. This attractive, young womans death helped unravel the corrupt political environment in New Mexico at the time. The business was a family affair, while Stephanie managed the day to day running of the business, her father Ron owned the bowling alley. } However, the police reported that this wasnt the case and they often had to track him down. My input would be that a bowling alley would be a very odd place to rob. img5on.src="../images/btn5_on.jpg"; Dig deeper img5on=new Image(); Ray would find the name Raymond, but and entry of Raymond would End If Plenty of people had a motive to kill him, yet he also had a motive to kill. Your email address will not be published. The older gentleman handed the younger gentleman a small case. Almost immediately, the police began receiving masses of tips, and they ended up opening another phone line to deal with the call volumes. img10on=new Image(); How they died is part of the mystery, and theres still a $100K reward for information leading to an arrest. Then, two customers showed up during the struggle. NewMexi.Co Articles, Entertainment, NM History, People It was when two men walked into a Las Cruces bowling alley and shot seven people execution style including four children. Again, any DNA around the safe or around anything the killers may have touched should be uploaded to GEDmatch.com and familial DNA could solve this quick. img10on.src="../images/btn10_on.jpg"; OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article. card search on end of the data that you enter. Function myForm_OnSubmit It is not known what happened, who killed him, or why. Melissa and Amy were already hungry and asked Stephanie for pocket change to buy snacks from the vending machines before customers started arriving. My mother told me about a murdered woman being dumped by her father in New Mexico. The Las Cruces bowling alley massacre can be compared to that of the yoghurt shop murders in Texas. These crimes were shocking for several reasons: one of the victims was a child, the bodies were never found, and Fountain was a well-known, public figure. 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. Who killed Rosemary Tellez at City of Rocks? Their first names were Dorothy and Barbara. (l-r) Paula Holguin and Valerie Teran via Sun-News. The case left so many unresolved questions that it is impossible to even state for certain which mystery were trying to solve. if (ver == "yes") { 7 Jan 1991, 3 - The Deming Headlight at Newspapers.com www.cnn.com Unsolved Las Cruces Bowling . Cold cases and unsolved crimes in Las Cruces, NM. Everything from mysterious disappearances in New Mexico to murders and ghosts - the Land of Enchantment has it all! 4:05 pm. Over three decades later, the Las Cruces bowling alley massacre remains unsolved. May have been my father, Sandy Broadbent Else First responders arrived in only a minute, but they discovered a grisly scene. This is when a mass grave was discovered in West Mesa, near Albuquerque, at a construction site. 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. No one has ever been charged in her death. Information should be called into the Las Cruces police department on 5755284222. Between 1980 and 2019, there were approximately 6,579 murders in New Mexico, according to Project: Cold Cases unsolved homicide statistics webpage. Thank you dear readers for contributing to this conversation with the mysteries you recall that we had yet to discover. if (ver == "yes") { [Feedback] [Contact] Also available on YouTube with Dennis Farina. Location: Las Cruces, New Mexico Date: February 10, 1990 Case Details: On February 10, 1990, cook Ida Holgun was in the kitchen of the Las Cruces Bowling Alley, preparing for lunch. document[imgName].src = eval(imgName + "on.src"); Helicopters, planes and multiple law enforcement departments quickly got involved, including the Army, U.S Customs and border patrol, all hunting for the shooters. 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. We do not want them to ever be forgotten! Outside of Hobbs NM at Buckeye two young women were shot to death. Many believe that Tara was intentionally trying to leave a trail for the police to follow, as pieces of her Walkman were found near the abduction site. img8on=new Image(); She allegedly left the home on Broken Arrow around 3 p.m. that afternoon and has not been seen since. These murders were never solved. The gunmen shot the victims in an office, then set fire to a desk in the room and left the scene. One of the witnesses was Stephanies brother, who well call Michael. Sharon Sanchez 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. Seventeen days later, her body was found in a hastily dug grave near Mesquite, New Mexico. img7off=new Image(); Based on this data, it seems as if the number of criminal homicides committed in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, has risen in the last 5 years but has remained steady overall. Also the disappearance of young Robbie Romero from Santa Fe, circa 2000. what about the disappearance of Jimmy Mathews in February 2000. Over 30 years later, the bowling alley killings remain a mystery. According to these archived reports, we can see that there were 6 murders in 2016, 15 in 2017, 15 in 2018, 14 in 2019, and another 14 in 2020. Here are four unsolved mysteries in New Mexico, one historical, and three more recent. Tim Edwards was a retired Arizona educator and athlete and New Mexico rancher who was found brutally murdered on the road to his ranch on his way home from town with a load of hay and groceries for a New Years Eve get together. However, they learned from her account that the older man had a Spanish accent, but the younger had an American enunciation. document[imgName].src = eval(imgName + "off.src"); 8. img3off=new Image(); Height: 510 murder victims from New Mexico are reaching out for your help through these pages. (l-r) Paula Holguin and Valerie Teran via, We investigated all of those angles at the time, Detective Mark Myers told, Ron Senac at the reopening of the bowling alley via, We put Ronald Senac under a microscope and we couldnt find anything. victim's name Eyes: Light Before Fountain and his young son disappeared, they were on their way home to Mesilla from Lincoln, New Mexico, where Fountain had assisted in the prosecution of Oliver M. Lee and William McNew. img6off=new Image(); img7off=new Image(); Subscribe for new episodes announcements, latest news, featured cases, and more! img9off=new Image(); LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The killers were ruthless. myForm_OnSubmit = True img4on=new Image(); The pair robbed . Read more: kob.com. Even after more than 30 years, law enforcement and family members of the victims hold out hope that the case can be closed and the culprits brought to justice. I think her remains were found many years later but I dont think her murderer was ever found. Several law enforcement agencies Meanwhile, there have been plenty of reports of paranormal activity in the restaurant next to Manbys old home. img6on=new Image(); It was discovered nine months after her abduction in a parking lot in Florida. Software Solutions. In 2011. The only missing items were a couple of blankets and Fountains rifle. y = Document.MyForm.sEndDate.Value could enter Ray and any cases where the first 3 letters of the Uncovered is where the most passionate true crime enthusiasts can learn from and teach others. This was not a professional job and it has been sheer luck that these two idiots havent been caught already. View all cases sorted by This was when the two gunmen began shooting. I remember [Lollie] Tiptonabducted from a [convenience store]in the late 1960s early 1970s. According to Ida: I just thought they were gonna get money and then take off, especially when they told us, All of you put your heads down.'. Entertainment, NM History, People of New Mexico These offenders probably murdered before with how quickly they shot the hostages and left with the $. These cases are unsolved or are in need That Saturday had started like any other. Both men were gunned down in Mexico in a botch robbery in Mexico right after the Bowling Alley Murders. Even though we dont know exactly how many Santa Fe County murders have taken place in previous years, we can look into archived Uniform Crime Reports posted by the New Mexico Department of Public Safety in order to see the current trends. Your email address will not be published. There was between $4,000 and $5,000 in total. mail_str ="mailto:webmistress@nmsoh.org?subject=" + document.title; She left her home in Belen and was last sighted on Highway 47 in Valencia County. Kidnapping and armed robbery were in the criminal history of Altum. Johnna Russell Cold Cases Missing Persons Daily Archive. Just a short drive away from El Paso, Texas, Las Cruces has a population of around 100,000, making it the second largest city in New Mexico. At 9 am, police stopped a car with four men inside. Blood, skin cells, sperm,or other types ofDNA evidence, cell phone pings, weapons, andmost commonly, Santa Fe County murders crime scene photos, which are frequentlyused to highlight theatmosphere around the crime in addition to any other aspects of the crime sceneto the judge and jury. For example, the infamous Roswell crash occurred in, , 1988, when she went on a bike ride in her neighborhood. The bad news is that Lollie did not survive. img6off.src="../images/btn6.jpg"; The Las Cruces bowling alley massacre occurred in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States, on February 10, 1990. Nancy Bowns. Ron reopened the bowling alley six days after the massacre and attention soon turned to him. Such samples could then be run against evidence from other open cases. img9off=new Image(); If IsDate(x) = False or IsDate(y) = False Then Seven people were shot, four fatally, by two unidentified robbers at the Las Cruces Bowling Alley at 1201 East Amador Avenue. The Las Cruces Bowling Alley Massacre was one of the deadliest mass murders in New Mexico history. Theories abounded on what happened to the two likely murder victims, as their bodies were never found, nor was any clear evidence concerning who might have done it. img3on.src="../images/btn3_on.jpg"; } img5off.src="../images/btn5.jpg"; On August 11, 1961 both girls were killed by gunshot to the head. The men reportedly drew guns and led the girls towards the back office, where Repass's mother, Stephanie Senac, was counting receipts from the previous evening. These include the 2004 murder of Joan Vance, the 1983 murder of Jean Simmons Abla, the 1981 murder of Mildred Reagan, and the 2008 double murder of Jessie Morales and Michelle Amy Phillips, along with others. At about 8:20, Ida was surprised in the kitchen by a stranger with a pistol. any unsolved violent crimes please contact your local If you know of any others, keep sharingin the comments. In fact, a mental institution had just recently released him back into society. Stephanie Senac (aged 34) arrived at Las Cruces Bowl along with her daughter Melissa Repass (aged 12), and Amy Hauser (aged 13). } img9off.src="../images/btn9.jpg"; which occurred with in a date range, [Home] [SiteMap][Home] [Memorials] [Unsolved] [Grief] [Reflections] [Resources] [BulletinBoard] [Organization] [Contact] [Search],