Bizarre New Mexico Cold Cases Pt. 3


Every once in a while, I like to visit New Mexico cold cases. I hope to find updates, but usually, there are none. I hope that by highlighting these cases, I may draw attention to them and maybe even encourage someone to come forward with something, anything.

You can see my first two New Mexico Cold Cases posts here:

Bizarre New Mexico Cold Cases Pt. 1

Bizarre New Mexico Cold Cases Pt. 2

Let’s dive in with the tragic case of Perfecto Flores.

Perfecto Flores

Perfecto Flores was 69 years old when he was murdered by blunt force trauma to the head. He was discovered on December 16, 1995.

Some children were playing on the 15000 block of Pajarito Rd. Southwest. They came upon an abandoned 1984 Buick emitting a foul odor. Curious, they messed with the car and popped the trunk, in which they found the horrific sight of Flores’s beaten and battered body.

This case does not have many public details. It is currently a cold case. Who killed Flores, drove his car to that location, and put him in the trunk?

Phyllis Rosenbaum-Lockhart

Phyllis Rosenbaum-Lockhart was a 44-year-old former Army veteran. She worked as a multilingual interpreter. Her horrific death on August 7, 2003, is currently a cold case. Sadly, people have seen her murdered, but he has never been identified.

Rosenbaum-Lockhart was found in a drainage ditch near the Albuquerque water treatment plant at 4201 Second Street SW. The autopsy revealed that prior to being put in the ditch, she had received blunt force trauma to the head and sharp force injuries. These injuries made her unable to swim and she died of drowning.

Someone saw a man driving her 1997 Mercury car that same day. Later, it was set on fire near the West Mesa, off Wendell Road. A man was seen running from the car, who matched the description of the man seen driving it earlier.

If you know anything, please call the Bernalillo County sheriff at (505) 798-7000.

Jesus Ramirez and Andrew McCumber

Some people decided to head out to enjoy a picnic on December 12, 1988. They chose a private spot east of North Hwy 14. Little did they know, a murderer had also chosen that exact spot to dump two bodies. I’m sure that ruined the picnickers’ appetite.

The males were identified as Jesus Ramirez (50) and Andrew P. Mc Cumber (31). Both men were from Texas. They had been shot multiple times. It is unclear how they knew each other or why they were in Albuquerque. Those details might shed light on why they were killed.

Yvonne Martinez

Martinez left the Okay Casino north of Espanola around 1:50 am on October 11, 2003. She was never seen alive again. Her body was found faceup, partially nude, shot twice in the chest, and dumped on the side of the road near Espanola. There were signs that she had struggled with her murderer. Yvonne was only 37 and her family wants to know who did this terrible thing to end her life. 

The fact she was partially clothed suggests that she was sexually assaulted, though the news is unclear about that. She had left the casino wearing a black leather jacket, a red shirt, a red bandana, and jeans. It is not clear what clothes were missing and if they were at the scene or taken by her murderer, possibly as souvenirs. 

Eerily, someone anonymously sent the State Police a post card following her death. While the message was never released publicly, police did say it was cryptic and impossible to decipher, and it was written on very faded paper. Police begged the writer to write again but that never happened. How they connected this cryptic post card to Martinez’s death is unclear but the article says “post card about Yvonne Martinez’s death.” It kind of sounds like a wannabe Zodiac killer, taunting police. 

Joanne Dodge

In 1981, an NMSU student from Farmington disappeared. The Dodge family wondered for years what had happened to their loved one, Joanne. Joanne was studying elementary education and she was only 24. She had her whole life ahead of her. Yet she and her car mysteriously disappeared on September 2, 1981, and were never found for 24 years.

That changed in 2005 when water levels in Burn Lake in Las Cruces began to lower due to drought. A resident saw what looked like the top of a car. Authorities pulled out a Mustang with skeletal remains inside. They immediately suspected it was Dodge, and they soon confirmed it via DNA, a partial VIN in the car, and an ID found in the car.

Dodge was too decomposed for an autopsy to determine what had happened to her. As far as we know, she simply drove off I10 right into the lake and drowned. Burn Lake is a short distance from I10 so it is not unbelievable. But wouldn’t she have left tracks or guardrail damage that would have alerted people to her being in the lake? And how come she was in the area in the first place?

The night of September 2, 1981, Joanne Dodge was hanging out at a party. She left around 10 pm, quite intoxicated. She said she was heading to her dorm room. Burn Lake is 2 exits beyond the University exit and about 4-5 miles from the University. We could chalk it up to drunken confusion, but there is still the possibility something more sinister happened.

Dodge’s family is glad to have answers at last. Her sister, Thelma Begay, and her nephew, Timothy Begay, had a funeral for her and lay her remains to rest. They also came to Burn Lake and left flowers.

Burn Lake is now just a dirt pit but at one time it was a city lake where you could fish and take turns on rented boats. Standing at its edge now, next to a homeless encampment and a pile of abandoned clothing, it is kind of hard to believe someone was in it for over two decades. The police also wonder how no one saw anything all that time. Maybe the decomposing remains are why the lake was infested with botulism in 2004 and E. Coli in 2006.

The now-dry Burn Lake in Las Cruces

Alice Moore-Downing

Alice Moore-Downing was 41 when her body was discovered lying off of a dirt road at east Highway 333 on January 10, 1989. She had been stabbed multiple times. Moore-Downing had been a transient living in Albuquerque.Few details are available in her case. But many homeless people have fallen victim to violence, including Lana Williamson and Carlos Ragman Garver. That serves to illustrate how they are a vulnerable population deserving of more protections.

For more reading

Phyllis Rosenbaum-Lockhart:

https://www.koat.com/article/sheriff-seeks-help-in-lockhart-murder/5015774

Yvonne Martinez:

https://www.koat.com/article/reward-offered-for-information-in-woman-s-death/5016434#

https://www.koat.com/article/cryptic-postcard-first-lead-in-woman-s-murder/5016570