Welcome to Part 3 of my series on New Mexico unidentified bodies. Here are a few more cases that I think could be solved. Read my other posts on this topic: Part 1 and Part 2.
2015 Wagon Mound John Doe
Wagon Mound John Doe has a real chance at being identified because he has so many distinguishing characteristics. His bones were found in Mora County, near Wagon Mound, scattered around a meadow in the woods. With him, he had items suggesting he had gone for a short outdoor triBob p, including a backpack, a red sleeping bag, a radio, a flashlight, a compact mirror, a garbage bag, deodorant, and a change of clothes. Yet a water bottle, food, and cooking gear were not located near him.
He was wearing pants that converted into shorts; they were in shorts form and the extensions were in his backpack. He also had a Kuhl Kontendr sweater, Merrell Vibram shoes, and expensive sunglasses. These items suggest he was not broke or homeless. Yet he also carried a carpenter bag held together with a belt, which was at odds with his expensive clothes and gear. He also had a shirt bearing a Soil Conservation Service patch and a Ropes that Rescue hat. Ropes that Rescue is a Sedona-based company that trains people on how to rig ropes and do rescues on places like cliffs when climbers get stranded. The patch on the shirt was from before 1994, when Soil Conservation Service changed their name to National Resources Conservation Service.
These items suggest to me that he used to work in Sedona and was involved in oudoors-y activities. Yet he was poorly prepared without water or food, unless he did bring a water bottle that was just lost in Nature. The sleeping bag he carried is also not typical for hikers. These details make it confusing as to what he was really doing in the area – hiking or something else? The medical examiner’s theory is that he may have been working nearby.
Cause of death could not be determined, especially since many of his bones were missing. Several of his bones were broken but the medical examiner believes they were crushed posthumously by cows that had been grazing in the area. The compact mirror he had with him was open, suggesting he may have been using to signal for help after getting lost in the remote area. It seems most likely that he died from the elements after being lost in the wilderness for some time.
No ID or keys were found among his things. No vehicle was found in the vicinity. That makes me wonder if he caught a ride or was dropped off in the area. He may not have intended to return home, hence why he didn’t bring ID. The more sinister conclusion one could draw from this is that somebody dumped him out here, but there is no evidence of foul play.
Weirdly, he had a pen from the Community First State bank which had a branch in nearby Mora. This suggests he may have been at that bank. How could he have made a deposit or withdrawal without a card or ID? That makes me think he had those items with him but who knows where they went? If he was lost in the wilderness, then he may have had a second bag that he dumped somewhere to lighten his load.
The only details the medical examiner could glean about this man’s appearance was that he was probably of Native American, southern European, and northern European descent. He had a smaller than normal head, a prominent nose, and tufted prominent eyebrows. Dark hair was found on his sternum. His features were hyper-masculine. A root canal had been performed on Tooth #14 at some point. During his lifetime, he suffered from serious nasal issues, probably from allergies. He stood at 5’6 and 5’10 and his weight could not be determined. He was probably 25-44. His death happened sometime between April 2013 and November 2014, leaving a huge window.
If you think you have an idea who this is, please call Wendy Honeyfield at the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office at 505-272-3053.
1988 Tijeras Jane Doe
The remains of a white female, aged 17-22, who died between 1983 and 1986, were found in an arroyo near the Ideal Cement Plant in Tijeras, NM. She was found on September 9, 1988. Her NamUs ID is 13186.
She was found wearing blue or black jeans with a 28″ inseam, a faded light blue or pale green long-sleeved blouse, a shoe with five pairs of eyelets and rubber soles, a 26″ long yellow metal stretch belt with a yellow buckle and a gray metal buckle, and a torn white bra, unknown size. There were no labels on any of the clothing.
Fingerprints are not available and DNA is unknown but there are dental records. I wonder if they have been compared to Debra Lansdell? There are a few other missing young women from Albuquerque and Santa Fe and the Native American reservations that could be possible matches as well.
1996 Chavez County John Doe (#UP9539)
July 26, 1996, a young man aged 20-30 was riding his bike in Roswell with headphones on when he veered into oncoming traffic. He sustained significant brain damage and limb fractures. He was unconscious as he was airlifted to a trauam center in Lubbock, then later he was transported to a nursing home in Roswell. He lived for 3 years in that nursing home, never regaining consciousness, before he finally passed.
The entire time, he was never identified, and no one came forward to claim him. His details were even submitted to the FBI twice with no results. For some reason, you can’t find a photo of him online, even though law enforcement had 3 years to get a photo of him alive.
He was 102 pounds and 5’7″. He had brown hair and brown eyes. His race was either white or Hispanic.
Roswell does have a pretty active oil industry and also lots of tourism related to the UFO crash story of 1946. Nearby Clovis has a military base, so lots of people come and go from the region. If he had been an airman, the military surely would have claimed him, but maybe he was the unwanted family member of an airman?
Also, why did he veer into traffic? Did he intend to kill himself or was it an accident?
His ME/C case number is 1996-3694. If you think you might know who this man is, call the Chavez County Sheriff’s Office at 575-624-6500.
1990 Chavez County Jane Doe (#UP12770)
August 28, 1990, a woman was found charred underneath the Bob Crosby Bridge on US 70 East in Roswell.
She had religious regalia on her person, indicating she was of the Catholic faith. Her ears were pierced with yellow gold hoops and she wore a gold ring with a six-pronged green birtstone and a gold chain necklace with a Christ wreath of thorns medallion on it. Her clothes include maroon corduroy pants in children’s size 14 slim, a red and gray blouse, a red-zippered sweat jacket, and size 6 MS-PRO pink running shoes. She was believed to be Hispanic and was 5’4″ and 110 pounds, between 18 and 22 years old, and with dark hair.
At some point in the past year, she had been in an accident and received a whiplash injury. She also may have born a child before. Investigators think she had died a day to a week prior to being found.
O’Dina Lucero disappeared from Roswell in 1979 and Laura Marie Hernandez disappeared from Clovis in 1980. Neither seem to be good matches due to the time elapsed. This Jane Doe may have been from out of state or even south of the border. I wonder if she was a victim of domestic violence to be murdered like this with no one looking for her in the area.
A green birthstone could indicate a birthday of May (emerald) or August (peridot). Though honestly I think the gem in the picture looks more like an aquamarine birthstone for March.
The Bob Crosby Bridge crosses the Pecos River and is a fairly desolate area away from Roswell. It would be a good spot to quickly dump a body without getting caught, but not to burn one, because there is enough traffic on US 70 for the smoke to be seen fairly quickly. It is not clear if she was burned in the spot or burned elsewhere and then dumped here.
If you think you know who she is, you can call the New Mexico Office of the Medical Examiner at 505-272-3053. Reference case number 3990-890-5C.
1995 Jack’s Step-Inn Lounge Body
Jack’s Step-Inn Lounge was a poppin’ nightclub in the late 80s and 90s. It closed sometime around 2004. It is now all boarded up and it looks appropriately creepy for what happened here in August 1995.
Some employees of the lounge threw some trash around 3 pm on August 17, 1995. Then they went on to throw more trash about half an hour later and found a body wrapped in a bedspread that was tied with nylon cord. For some ungodly reason, they waited until 5:30 pm to notify police. If I found a body in the dumpster, you best believe I would be on the phone with 911 immediately.
The police found the decedent was a white male between 20-39 years of age. He had been about 194 pounds and 5’8″. He had brown hair but little else is known about his appearance because of decomposition. His skin was starting to slip, suggesting he had been dead for several days. The tip of his right forefinger and thumb had been surgically removed sometime long before he died. His size 11 high-top Ektelon athletic shoes were rolled up with him in the blanket and he was wearing denim pants, a brown belt, black boxers, white socks, and a short-sleeved collared shirt with alternating black and gray stripes.
He had been killed due to blunt force trauma on the left side of his head. He was sent to the medical examiner to determine his identity with no luck. It’s not clear if there is DNA or fingerprints but they should have dental records.
This area is off Juan Tabo, right off I40. It may have been a convenient dumping spot for a body that someone was transporting along the Interstate. But it is also near a KOA, which was operational at that time, so it could be he was murdered there. I can’t find much else about the area in 1995 but I wonder if it was near a home or motel? The fact the employees didn’t notify police immediately makes me wonder if they were involved.
You can notify the Bernalillo County Sheriffs if you have any info: (505) 468-7325 or the Albuquerque Metro Crime Stoppers at 505-843-STOP. His NamUs case number is 1995-3950.
2003 Bernalillo County John Doe (#UP8363)
August 15, 2003, a father and son discovered the bones of a young white male near Pajarito Mesa outside of Albuquerque. The remains have never been identified. The head was not found and no details were ascertained about the decedent. He was believed to be a white or Hispanic male age 21-30.
What is really odd about this John Doe is that he was found with multiple items of women’s clothing and kids’ clothing of all different sizes. NamUs says all of these clothing items were found on his body. Dafuq? Other sources say that the only clothing item determined to be his was a sock, which was full of foot bones.
Are there other victims in the vicinity? Could this be the second burial site of women missing from Albuquerque in that time frame? Or was this a transient man who bundled up with what he could find? Was he maybe carrying laundry in his vehicle when he was killed and it was thrown around him after he was dumped?
The clothes are:
men’s white high-top tennis shoe
women’s Reebok tennis shoe
white knit shirt with a blue/purple/pink design
fragments of a white t-shirt
cowboy boot size 6
women’s shoe with a tassel, Highlights brand
blue and white Cat in the Hat-style hat
green knee-high sock
kids’ high-top shoe, Voit brand
white/green/red tattered boxer shorts
fragmented red women’s handbag
white/black Raiders hat
kids’ size 2 green shorts
fragments of white glove
fragmented white sports sock that contained foot bones
fragmented white t-shirt with emblem saying “Go”
women’s sandal
black unisex belt
knit hooded sweater sleeve
fragmented white bra 40D
white men’s briefs, size 32
The Couple in Pinos Altos (#UP91154 and #UP90754)
After a forest fire near Pinos Altos, the Forest Service was clearing brush when they uncovered the charred skeletons of two persons, an African American male and a female whose race could not be determined. These remains were found on June 25, 2020. Near the charred bones was a loaded and rusted Smith & Wessen .357 handgun and a notebook containing suicide notes. The contents of the notes have not been divulged, but this was probably a murder-suicide or a suicide pact.
Not much can be determined about this dead couple. The female was between 25-53. Her height, weight, hair color, and eye color are all unknown. She had white socks, white and pink tennis shoes, and a watch with a diamond bracelet-style band. She was apparently clothed but her other clothing has not been described. I tried to figure out what brand and year her sneakers are from but could not find a definitive match.
The male was African American and between 30 and 70. He was somewhere between 5’8″ and 6’3″ but other details cannot be determined. His clothes also were not described.
The couple had several possessions that survived the fire intact. A pair of reading glasses in a pleather case, a pair of binoculars, a pen, a camouflage backpack, a watch with a black band, a box of matches, and a tobacco pipe were found with the remains. The couple also had an interesting lizard ornament of some kind with its tail curving into a hook, possibly a hook for hanging keys or packing the tobacco pipe? In the far left picture it looks large, like a key hook, but with the other items for scale in the far right picture, you can tell it is actually very small.
A wooden cane was also located at the scene. Combined with the reading glasses and pipe, I’m inclined to think the male was closer to 70 than 30. Thus, the female may have been closer to 53, though of course maybe not. She may have been his daughter or younger wife or even a caregiver. I’m also curious how someone could make it out to the rugged, remote area if they used a cane.
It takes a gun only about 5 days to 3 months to rust. This gun was too rusted to read the serial number. It could have been out there for years, but maybe just days or months. This makes it perplexing to date exactly when this couple died.
Another troubling thing is how the couple got out here. Did they get a ride from somebody or hitchhike? Was there an abandoned and unclaimed vehicle recovered nearby that is sitting in a salvage yard, which may have been theirs? A look at the registrations for all abandoned vehicles in the vicinity of Pinos Altos in the past several years might offer a lead on one or both identities.
I think this case is very odd and I would like to know what the notes said. I wonder how these two knew each other and how they came to be skeletons in the woods of Grant County. They seemed prepared for a day of hiking and possibly birdwatching with the binoculars, so how did things go so catastrophically wrong?
I am wondering if this pair could be Melanie Marie James and the unidentified black man she was seen with in Farmington when she vanished in 2014. She was 21 when she disappeared. She was wearing black sneakers, but she could have changed shoes.
Someone on Reddit suggested Raquel Rodriguez and Abraham Jimenez who disappeared from Hagerman in 2015. They were both Hispanic and I don’t think their circumstances match this scene. It seems more likely they were murdered close to home.
Sources:
Wagon Mound John Doe:
Tijeras Ideal Cement Plant Jane Doe:
https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1459ufnm.html
Bob Crosby Bridge Jane Doe:
https://www.missingkids.org/poster/NCMU/1184511/1#poster
Jack’s Step Inn Lounge Dumpster John Doe:
https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/9792
https://unidentifiedawareness.fandom.com/wiki/Bernalillo_County_John_Doe_(August_1995)
2003 Bernalillo County John Doe:
https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/8363
Couple found near Pinos Altos:
https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/91154?nav
https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/90754?nav