Jennifer Lynn Pentilla disappeared in New Mexico in October 1991. Her case has not been as publicized as Tara Calico’s but the circumstances are eerily similar. Pentilla’s family really wants to know what happened to their beloved girl, who was only 18. So far, there have been only two strong suspects, and no charges.
Jennifer Lynn Pentilla (pronounced Pen-tell-uh) was born in Butte, MT, and grew up in Great Falls, MT. She had moved to Missoula in 1991. She was close to her mom, Lynn Harris; her father had suddenly passed away from leukemia less than a year before Jennifer went missing. Jennifer was dedicated to the church, missionary work, and the outdoors. In July 1991, she took a missionary trip to Mexico that convinced her missionary work was her life’s mission. She refused gifts for the holidays because she felt the less fortunate deserved the resources more, and she loved writing poetry about her faith and Nature.
An adventurous and fiercely independent person, Jennifer was known to be both confident and humble. People couldn’t help but love her. She had friends all over the country – and readily made new friends. She was also very intelligent and taught herself to be fluent in Spanish.
On October 1, 1991, she flew to San Diego, CA, with her white Fuji mountain bike. There, she met up with some friends she had previously met at a missionary in Mexico. She was actually headed to Mexico again to perform more missionary work with children when she bicycled from San Diego to Deming. That’s a distance of 623 miles through very arid desert!
By the time she reached Deming, she attended evening church service at the Deming Baptist Church. She then humbly asked if she could roll out her sleeping bag on a pew or pitch her tent behind the church. Pastor Robert Summers and his wife, Loretta, welcomed her to stay at a fifth-wheel at their home. Jennifer spent the night there and enjoyed a McDonald’s breakfast with the couple in the morning, where she discussed her travel plans with them. She mentioned wanting to get to Las Cruces, where she had arranged to stay at the church. The couple suggested she follow Interstate 10, not knowing that bikes were not allowed on the interstate’s shoulders due to safety concerns. Jennifer asked if she could go through Hatch and then to Las Cruces that way and the couple said that route was not ideal due to the desolation of Highway 26, a 46-mile stretch between Deming and Hatch, ultimately connecting I10 and I25.
The last time her mother, Lynn Harris, heard from Jennifer, was the morning of October 17th, 1991. called from a payphone on Pine St in Deming. This payphone was located in front of a Shell gas station that is no longer there. Jennifer said that her friends from San Diego had finally convinced her that Mexico was too dangerous, given the recent uptick in cartel-related crime. So, instead, she planned to ride her bike across the States to Minnesota to visit a friend there.
Harris told her the distance was too great as it got colder, and she would purchase a bus ticket for Jennifer. Jennifer said she was very sore from riding her bike all day, so she didn’t mind taking the bus, but she had the money to pay for the ticket herself. She also planned to frame and sell some of her poems to raise money. She mentioned she would be home for the holidays. In the meantime, she said, her next planned stop was the aforementioned church in Las Cruces. She ended the call with a promise to call back that evening.
But she never did. When she didn’t call for her mom’s birthday on October 19th, Harris knew something bad had happened. Jennifer would never have missed her mom’s birthday. What Harris didn’t realize on October 17th, was that was the last time she would ever hear her beloved daughter’s voice.
Jennifer Pentilla was last seen riding down Pine St. on a white Fuji bike, away from the Shell station. She had on a backpack with camping gear. She was planning to follow I10 to Las Cruces, but bikes are not allowed along I10 for safety reasons. All anyone knows is that Jennifer never showed up at the Lutheran church and investigators don’t think she ever made it to Las Cruces at all. It almost seems like she rode into a big blackhole; no witnesses said that they saw what happened to her. But the reality is that something probably far more earthly, and awful, happened to her.
Belongings of Jennifer Lynn Pentilla
On September 4, 1992, less than a year later, Farmington couple Bill and Sara Soures were looking for doves to hunt off of Highway 26 between Hatch and Deming, about 46 miles from Deming. On a sandy off-road near Las Uvas Valley Dairy, the couple found a tarp and some duffel bags at the base of a mesquite bush. When they lifted the tarp, they found two Bibles (one in English and one in Spanish), a journal, a camp lantern, some jars of baby food, cigarette butts, and a map. They noticed how the passport was stamped in Mexico from July 1991 and how the items were stacked as if a person planned to return for them. At first, they figured it was probably nothing, since a lot of drifters and partiers frequented the desolate desert spot. But something about the items felt eerie, which made them think twice.
They then called the police, feeling they had found a crime scene. When the police showed a characteristic lack of interest in the scene, the couple decided to gather the items themselves a few days later and investigate. They found a ten-dollar bill hidden in one of the Bibles, and the journal full of poetry and profound musings. From the ID and passport, they identified Jennifer Pentilla. They thus contacted her mother in Montana and learned the horrific truth: they had found the belongings of a missing person.
How these items got there, where Pentilla’s body is, or even where her bike wound up, all remain unknown. New Mexico State Police searched the area where Jennifer’s things were found for hours with cadaver dogs, turning up nothing.
The State Police and Deming Police never found any solid leads to bring charges. They could not ascertain where Jennifer had gone after calling her mother on the 17th, or who she may have come into contact with in Deming. They aren’t even sure that she is dead, though it seems likely; all they know is that she is missing and a few of her items have been located. The newspaper stated that there have been no suspects questioned in connection to her case, but this actually is not true.
The Suspects
There are actually two suspects that cops have zeroed in on. The first, and most prominent, is Jesus Chuy Vasquez. Chuy Vasquez was working at the very Shell station in Deming where Jennifer stopped to make her call to her mom the morning she was last seen. Numerous witnesses claimed to have seen him with Jennifer, though in what capacity is unknown. He had a friend, Sarah Chavez, who told police she had seen Jennifer in Chuy’s shed, though whether she meant dead or alive is unclear. One of his girlfriends said Chuy was wearing a leather bracelet, similar to the one Jennifer had been wearing when she disappeared, and he took it off and never mentioned it again when his girlfriend asked where he had gotten it.
Chuy was never properly questioned and his work schedule and whereabouts that day were never established. He was questioned in the back of a police cruiser 1992 while under arrest for a drug-related crime and denied any wrongdoing. Again in 1994, he was arrested for drugs and attempted suicide by fatal overdose. He was questioned afterward about Jennifer Pentilla, as he recovered from the overdose, but he remained mum. In October of 2011, Chuy beat his brother Frank Vasquez to death. Due to the fact his brother was suffering herat issues and was very high on meth, it was believed his death was a result of the stress of the fight, not the fight itself. Thus, Chuy was sentenced to four years in prison for voluntary manslaughter. This was clearly a violent and disturbed man with a penchant for drugs, but did he kill Jennifer Pentilla?
Police have been trying to find out, but there have been many setbacks. Chuy refuses to talk, despite law enforcement telling him Jennifer deserves justice. Agent Charles Boylsten has even tried to get a confidential informant to pry the information from Chuy, with no luck. The informant went to jail and never got close enough to Chuy to learn the truth.
The second suspect is a farm laborer named Henry Apodaca, who worked int he chile fields near Hatch. A witness told the NM State Police that they had seen Jennifer riding her bike near the hatch airport when a Chevy truck drove past, reversed, adn went for her. Another witness claimed that Jennifer came into the Hatch Pic Quik, where two men accompanied her, one staying by her side as if controlling her. The other man stayed by the phone outside so she couldn’t call for help. Based on these descriptions and the fact Henry Apodaca had bragged openly about abducting Jennifer Pentilla, it is believed he may have had something to do with her disappearance. He passed away in 2011 without ever being charged or even properly investigated.
The Investigation Thus Far
A female witness called Lynn Harris in 1998 and claimed that she had seen Jennifer Pentilla living near Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. Another witness apparently claims that Pentilla has been living in the Southwest with a transient named Teresa. Yet another claimed she was living in a hippie commune near the Grand Canyon. Police have never been able to substantiate these tips. I don’t think Pentilla sounds like somebody who would just disappear, especially considering the fact that she called her mother every few days on her bike journey.
Agent Charles Boylsten has reviewed the case every month, without finding any new details. He turned it over to the NM State Police Cold Case Unit in 2016. There has still been no progress. In 2010, the DA of the area claimed they were ready to bring charges, but 13 years later, that has not happened.
The cigarette butts and baby food jars are not even listed in evidence held by the state police. that is a shame – the butts have DNA evidence that may have led to her killer’s apprehension. The baby food jars may have had viable fingerprints or DNA. There were fingerprints recovered from the items – but they have not been documented as processed by the state crime lab. This is just one of many examples of how this case was bungled by the Hatch and Deming police departments and the NM State Police. The other examples are how Chuy Vasquez and Henry Apodaca were never properly investigated and questioned.
Pentilla’s family came down to New Mexico to search for their daughter and pass out missing persons flyers in 1991. But despite their efforts and the $1000 reward offered up by Crimestoppers, she has never been found. Her family believes that someone followed her on her bike and abducted her. It is not known what they think of the two suspects.
Theories
I think the biggest clue is her items on NM 26. That is really the only crime scene we have available.
There are a few odd things about this crime scene. The first is that Jennifer was told not to go the Hatch way, but it appears she did, and maybe it was because she was told she could not ride along the interstate. But did someone tell her to take the Hatch route, after the pastor and his wife told her not to? If so, that person becomes a person of interest due to the fact that he (or she) now knew where Jennifer would be.
Jennifer made the 623-mile journey from San Diego in 15 days, meaning she averaged 41 miles a day. The area where her things were found was about 41 miles from Deming. This suggests she may have made it that far and set up camp the night of the 17th. Her items were left as if she had arranged them neatly, planning to return at a later point. Then, something befell her and she never returned.
Did she leave camp to go to Hatch to get to a payphone? Remember she had promised to call her mom, and she was not the type to leave her mom worrying. But I think she never left that site – alive, anyway. That’s because Hatch was 10 miles away from where her things were found, which would have taken her a long time after a 41-mile day. It was likely dark or near dark when she chose to settle that area near the dairy farm. So it seems likely to me that she never left that spot, and that’s where she was abducted or killed. She often called her mom every few days, so she probably knew she could wait until the next day to reach a payphone.
In support of that theory, there is evidence that someone joined her at the campsite. The baby food is a weird detail that a lot of reports leave out. Why did she have baby food? Was it an easy and fast form of cheap nutrition? Or did her murderer have the baby food? Jennifer was not known to eat baby food, but it may be something she picked up on her trip. The cigarette butts are an even more bizarre detail, as Jennifer did not smoke. This evidence makes me think that someone joined Jennifer at her little camp, maybe someone who carried baby food to eat and who smoked, maybe a drifter. Jennifer, with her kind spirit, offered to let the drifter eat with her or use her tent. Then this person killed her.
Jennifer’s silver and blue sleeping bag has never been found, though all her other things were. This suggests it was used to dispose her body. Her bike has also never been found. If she was killed by somebody, the bike would have been a valuable item to steal. Her items were stacked as if someone planned to return for them – possibly her killer, who could have used her camp stuff, if we go by the drifter theory. However, something came up where the killer never returned, possibly because he feared it was too risky after he murdered Jennifer.
The problem with the drifter theory is how was her body disposed? Someone took the initiative to hide her well. A drifter could have easily just left her body there and disappeared into the night. Furthermore, it would have been difficult (not impossible, but difficult) for him to transport and bury her body without a vehicle. This suggests she was murdered by someone with a vehicle.
It is also mentioned that this area was a popular party spot. Maybe there were other people staying there, or partying there, whom Jennifer met as she planned to make camp. Maybe one of them had a vehicle. Jennifer mentioned she needed to get to Hatch to call her mom, so they took her to town – and then did something to her. They disposed of the sleeping bag and bike as evidence, or they stole the bike. While that doesn’t explain the baby food, it does explain the cigarette butts.
If we consider Chuy Vasquez as her killer, then it is possible she asked him about riding to Hatch the morning in the Shell station on Pine St. He told her it would be a great route. By evening, he had no problem finding her spot, since he had told her to go that way. That’s when he pulled up to offer her a ride or help. Jennifer trusted him due to the rapport they had already established at the Shell that morning, so she went with him. This is why many witnesses saw her with him. Somehow, she ended up in his shed, dead or alive, and that was the end. Or maybe she never made it to Hatch and Chuy simply disposed of her things out there to make it look like she had camped out there. But really, she met her end in Deming because of him.
That being said, I’m not even sure Chuy Vasquez should be blamed. Numerous witnesses saw him with her – but why would she have been with him? She was a focused person with little apparant interest in boys, and she had a goal – get to Las Cruces. It seems quite possible that the witnesses were people who didn’t like Chuy. One of the biggest witnesses was his ex-girlfriend, Amy Chavez. I think an ex-girlfriend is likely to be bitter and to think the worst of somebody. The leather bracelet he wore could have come from another girl, not Jennifer, hence his reticence to talk about it with her. In small towns like Deming, people tend to gossip and to have very mean mindsets, and they won’t hesitate to throw someone they hate under the bus. The police may have been more than happy to go alone with it, as Chuy was a usual suspect with a long criminal record. Furthermore, people feel the incessant need to be important, so they fabricate things or stretch details to inject themselves into the investigation. Bogus tips are a common nuisance in investigations. I’m certainly not defending Chuy or saying he is innocent – he may very well be the man we’re looking for. But we shouldn’t assume he is Jennifer’s killer based on such scant evidence.
I also don’t know what to think about the witness reports about seeing a truck turn back for Jennifer and the two men in the gas station. These tips almost appear too neat and perfect – as if they were fabricated after the fact to fit with details in the newspaper. These tips seem like attempts for bored people to inject themselves into the drama.
I’ve lived in new Mexico for almost my whole life and usually when I’m in trouble, someone else will stop to help out. I’ve had older men stick up for me when guys are harassing me and I’ve had men ask if I’m OK when they see me with a boyfriend, just in case I’m not with him willingly. New Mexicans like to help people out who are in trouble. If you’re on the side of the road with a flat, for instance, someone will usually stop and offer to help. It seems strange that some New Mexican people saw a truck turn around for a lone girl on a bike and they just drove past and didn’t intervene, although it is certainly possible, especially if the witnesses didn’t think anything bad was happening until after the fact. Maybe it didn’t click that what they saw was unusual until they heard about the missing girl on a bike in October 1991.
I have a tough time believing the Pik Quik attendant didn’t recognize Henry Apodaca with Jennifer since he was a local in the very small town of Hatch. The attendant likely would have had some serious questions if they had recognized Apodaca with a strange new white girl. Apodaca would have an absolute fool to go to a gas station where he would be recognized with his kidnapping victim. Who was the second man in that tip? Was a person of interest ever identified for the second man?
But if they are true, then that jibes with the idea that Jennifer made it out close to Hatch. What kind of vehicle did Chuy drive?
Alternate theory…I certainly think that something bad happened to her. But was it a person or the viciousness of the New Mexico desert that claimed her life? People underestimate how deadly the desert truly is, until they read about the high number of hikers who die every year. Maybe Jennifer stacked her items, planning to return for them, and went off into the desert to get supplies or call her mom, despite it being late. Then she got lost or become dehydrated, and she was thus claimed by the elements. In many missing persons cases, it takes years to find a body, as the desert here is so vast. Perhaps her body and bike have both been swallowed by the sheer vastness of the desert. Someday, some hiker will stumble upon a bone that will (hopefully) be identified as belonging to Jennifer Lynn Pentilla.
The fact that her sleeping bag was not stashed with the other items under the tarp seems to support the idea that someone killed her, though. If she had put her own items under that tarp, intending to camp there, why wouldn’t she stash the sleeping bag with everything else? Thus, it seems like someone did something to her and hid a few of her items at this location to try to throw cops off from the true location of her body. Her sleeping bag may have been used to dispose of her body or had forensic evidence and blood on it, which is why it was absent from her things.
Conclusion
Lynn Harris still bought Christmas gifts for Jennifer Pentilla in 1991, just in case she came home. That just breaks my heart. Harris lost her husband and her daughter within a year of each other. Harris desperately wants answers and they have not been forthcoming. She says that April and October are particularly cruel months for her to go through.
Pentilla sounds like a really cool person who just wanted to explore the world while doing good work. I don’t know why evil things have to happen to innocent people. She would be 51 this year. This is an age-progressed photo of her:
Pentilla was born on April 4, 1973. She is Caucasian with O positive blood. She has blonde hair and blue eyes, a gap between her front teeth, a laparotomy scar on her abdomen, a birthmark on her left forearm, and glasses. At the time of her disappearance, she weighed 112 pounds and was 5’5”. She was wearing a blue Bum sweatshirt over a tank, jean shorts, brown hiking boots, dog tags on a necklace, a leather friendship bracelet, a silver ring that says “Loves Jesus,” and a watch with Snap, Crackle, and Pop, the Rice Krispies cartoon characters. Her bike was a white Fuji with green lettering and her aunt’s name inscribed under it. The serial number is F 9101771. If you know anything or think you have seen a person matching her description (remember that she would be in her fifties now), please call the New Mexico State Police at 505-827-9066 or email them at [email protected].
https://www.montanapress.net/post/jennifer-pentilla-a-montanan-forever-lost-in-new-mexico