Jamie Barela, age 15, female, vanished from Albuquerque, New Mexico after spending time with family and walking with her cousin, Evelyn Salazar, toward a nearby park on March 26, 2004. The two never came home. For years they were simply missing, their names added to a growing list of young women who had disappeared from the city in the early 2000s.
In February 2009, a hiker's dog uncovered human bones on the city's West Mesa, just east of 118th Street SW.
Police soon unearthed a clandestine burial ground containing the remains of eleven females. Among those later identified were Jamie Barela, age 15, female, and her cousin Evelyn Salazar. Identification came through forensic and DNA analysis, bringing an end to the families' search but offering few answers about what happened after the girls left the gathering and walked toward the park.
Investigators believe the victims were killed and buried between 2001 and 2005, with Jamie Barela, age 15, female, presumed to have been killed sometime after her March 2004 disappearance. The burial site's discovery was accidental, exposed during stalled development after the housing crash. Jamie's remains were formally identified via DNA; her family held a burial service in early March 2010.
No one has been arrested for the murder of Jamie Barela, age 15, female. Over the years, detectives examined multiple persons of interest linked to the broader West Mesa case, including Lorenzo Montoya, who lived a few miles from the burial site and had a history of violence against sex workers, and Joseph Blea, a convicted serial rapist investigated due to extensive contacts in areas associated with sex work. Both drew scrutiny, but authorities have not charged anyone in the deaths found on the West Mesa, and the official suspect for Jamie Barela, age 15, female, remains unknown.
