It is not known if she is still alive, or where she may be. Justice?, The Las Cruces bowling alley massacre can be compared to that of the. Although you may not be able to think of any famous New Mexico murders off the top of your head, there are several names on the list of all New Mexico murders and even several notorious New Mexico criminals which have seemingly become more recognizable over time, whether or not you have ever lived in New Mexico. The woman and boy in the photo both had duct tape over their mouths, and while their identities have been suspected, they have never been confirmed. img2off.src="../images/btn2.jpg"; This one is a bit confusing due to the limited information released by the police and the lack of any information regarding the investigation. Along the way, they took the bowling alley's cook, Ida Holguin, as an additional hostage. The gunmen appeared to be looking for money, and when they found the safe, they took the cash that was inside. Fountain was a Civil War veteran who fought for the Union Army and later became a lawyer. Articles, Entertainment, NM History, People A Nightmare In Las Cruces (Documentary) ABC-7 Xtra: Bowling Alley Massacre . But these hills hold secrets. Software Solutions. The bowling alley fire was reported at 8:33am. Feb. 3Las Cruces forever changed on Feb. 10, 1990. the memory of Gary James March. Thats reallyall that anyone knows since the case went cold without any evidence to point to motive or the identity of the murderer. All those young women, who were murdered and other than a Dateline TV, show about them nothing else has been said nor resolved. View all cases sorted by date of window.onerror=null; On the morning of February 10th, 1990 a horrendous crime, which is still unsolved, occurred in Las Cruces. Sloppy at best.tried and failed to eliminate the witnesses.tried and failed to burn the place down. The bartender recognized the kidnappers image, and this led to the arrest of William T. Altum. Rumours began to spill out into the streets of Las Cruces once again; was the businessman involved in the murders? function imgOn(imgName) { Throughout history, New Mexico seems to have dealt withmore than its fair share of New Mexico killers and New Mexico serial killers. img4off=new Image(); Two hunters found the bodies of the girls in the Rocky Arroyo area , Sitting Bill Falls. Last week, we looked at some of the biggest unsolved mysteries in New Mexico. Repass and Houser were going to look after some of the other employees' children and had been helping Senac open the building. This site is lovingly dedicated to I think this occurred around 1958. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. With the leads theyd received going nowhere, police began to look at the robbery in more detail. BUDVILLE, N.M. (KRQE) - Fifty-two years ago, a small New Mexico town made headlines for a gruesome double murder. We do not want them to ever be forgotten! Loretto Chapel. img3off=new Image(); any unsolved violent crimes please contact your local Carla Simmons. Ovida Cricket Coogler was last seen alive entering a mysterious car driven by an unknown man in downtown Las Cruces, New Mexico, around 3:00 on the morning of March 31, 1949. 31 years after the murders, the killers are still free. below. The case left so many unresolved questions that it is impossible to even state for certain which mystery were trying to solve. Last year for the 30-year anniversary of the case, Las Cruces Crime Stoppers announced a $30,000 reward for information that helps them identify the men responsible for this crime. And tragically, the case still remains unsolved, with no promising developments or leads. img9on=new Image(); Others remained convinced that he was killed by one of his enemies in Taos, New Mexico. No one was ever convicted of her murder. . As soon as I saw this case on unsolved mysteries on Pluto just now I knew the outcome for the two robbers! One was much older than the other and Steve saw them pass a small case between them. Everything from mysterious disappearances in New Mexico to murders and ghosts the Land of Enchantment has it all! Roberto Benavidez was a 22-year-old college student at Western New Mexico University in the spring of 2012, when he was found beaten in the head and unconscious in the middle of Aztec Street in Hurley, New Mexico. Outside of Hobbs NM at Buckeye two young women were shot to death. img3off.src="../images/btn3.jpg"; Several local, state, and even federal law enforcement organizations have published public annual crime reports on their websites, which detail the types and frequency of crimes in that area, if youre interested in learning more about crimes in New Mexico. theYear=now.getYear() Lorraine Ramirez went missing in April or May 2014. www.nmsoh.org email: webmistress@nmsoh.org, Web site design by document[imgName].src = eval(imgName + "off.src"); Officers responding to the call discovered that Amy Houser, Paula Holguin, and Steven Teran had died at the scene. I dont know how much of it is truth, my mom was with her mom, dad, uncle, and two brothers, Eugenia Love White The law was created following the 2003 rape and murder of 22-year-old Katie Sepich in Las Cruces. Cricket in the Web: The 1949 Unsolved Murder that Unraveled Politics in New Mexico Paperback - March 16, 2009 by Paula Moore (Author) 40 ratings Kindle $19.95 Read with Our Free App Hardcover $52.04 11 Used from $20.29 4 New from $45.00 Paperback $21.95 32 Used from $3.68 20 New from $16.02 The three adults and four children were each shot in the head and before leaving the bowling alley, the killers set fire to the paperwork on Stephanies desk. The Bowling Alley murders were one of those cases that as an Unsolved Mysteries watcher stays with you. [Unsolved] [Grief] not find the name of Ray. I never did find out what happened to my dad Orlando Valdez they never found a body. A knife wielding criminalabducted Lollie from the Paralta, New Mexico, Circle K store in 1977. The second gunman took $4,000 from the safe while the other gunman continued to yell, Heads down! Ida said she followed the instructions: When he said that, I thought, These guys are leaving. And thats when I felt they had shot me in the head.. Memorials to our lost loved ones who were victims of murder. Southern New Mexico Unsolved Murders Highlighting cold case homicides & disappearances in Southwestern New Mexico. img6off=new Image(); NewMexi.Co Las Cruces Bowling Alley Massacre. mail_str ="mailto:webmistress@nmsoh.org?subject=" + document.title; img1off.src="../images/btn1.jpg"; // -->, New Mexico Survivors of Homicide, Inc., These offenders probably murdered before with how quickly they shot the hostages and left with the $. The murder of Ovida Cricket Coogler in 1949. } One of the witnesses was Stephanies brother, who well call Michael. It was twelve year old Melissa, shot five times, who managed to save the lives of herself, her mother, and the cook by calling 911 after the shooters left. In January 1991, the bowling alley was sold at auction by the bank. Johnna Russell ( NewsNation) The murder clearance rate hit an all-time low in 2020, and data analyzed by a nonprofit shows that trend continued last year. Selling second-hand goods online has become a business that many people enjoy. img5off=new Image(); img6on=new Image(); Plenty of people had a motive to kill him, yet he also had a motive to kill. MsgBox EMsg,vbCritical,"Unsolved Case Search, Invalid field entry!" View all cases sorted by city of According to the same source, around 4,302 of those homicides have been solved as time passed, yet leaving roughly 2,277 homicides unsolved in New Mexico. Cricket in the Web: The 1949 Unsolved Murder That Unraveled Politics in New Mexico. End If Silver City, New Mexico. In March, James Chapman was murdered at Rio Rancho Lanes, New Mexico. Cold cases and unsolved crimes in Las Cruces, NM. A beautiful place. My input would be that a bowling alley would be a very odd place to rob. img8off.src="../images/btn8.jpg"; In todays world of technology and forensic science, we dont expect murders or missing persons to remain mysteries for long. img9on=new Image(); img6on.src="../images/btn6_on.jpg"; Some examples of the many unsolved murders in northern New Mexico which can be easily found within numerous databases/lists include the 2001 murder of Brian Edmonds, the 1999 double murder of Earl and Clarissa Gonzalez, the 2003 murder of Yvonne Martinez, the 1992 murder of Carla Helmer, and the 2004 murder of Brenda Wright, among many others. Among those enemies were a couple of powerful landowners, including Lee. . Rumours of organised crime and drugs began to circle the neighbourhood and Ron was right in the centre of the stories. 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.src="../images/btn6.jpg"; Two-year-old Valerie Teran was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. Senac worked at the bowling alley, while the girls worked in the daycare there. He also founded the Mesilla Valley Independent, a newspaper printed in Spanish and English. We can even solve riddles from the depths of history, finding out who committed what crimes, what battles were fought and why, and where missing persons have gone. She left her home in Belen and was last sighted on Highway 47 in Valencia County. Its relatively unpopulated, and its home to all kinds of ultra-weird, ultra-interesting, or otherwise interesting-in-some-way mysteries. Some claimed to have seen him in Europe, indicating that he was still alive. Information should be called into the Las Cruces police department on 5755284222. img3on.src="../images/btn3_on.jpg"; As Teran had been unable to find a babysitter for his two daughterstwo-year-old Valerie Teran and six-year-old Paula Holguin (no relation to Ida)he intended to drop them off at the alley's day care. img4on=new Image(); document[imgName].src = eval(imgName + "off.src"); Trends Analytics. Steve Senac was brought in to identify them, but he confirmed that they werent the men he saw in the parking lot. However, Im not sure if any DNA was collected. 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. on any tips, or information to the proper authorities if you DOB: Approx. 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. Thank you dear readers for contributing to this conversation with the mysteries you recall that we had yet to discover. Guys these men are dead. Stephanie Senac (aged 34) arrived at Las Cruces Bowl along with her daughter Melissa Repass (aged 12), and Amy Hauser (aged 13). The case keeps coming up even to this day. What are some of the most baffling New Mexico mysteries? Karen Brown remembered the McKnights. Despite being shot five times, 12-year-old Melissa was still alive and through the fire was beginning to fill the room with smoke, she managed to find the phone and call the police, something shed learned at school just a week earlier. y = Document.MyForm.sEndDate.Value There wasa massive scale search of the area, and they found his body after three days. Remarks: Speaks excellent English with no Spanish accent, Gender: Male img8off=new Image(); [5], Police set up ten roadblocks surrounding Las Cruces within an hour of the shooting, and carefully screened anyone leaving the city. Sherriff Lawrence Romerosolved this crime. img1off=new Image(); "[12] Since its release, more tips have been reported to the local police. Eugenia Love White She was working the graveyard shift at the Circle K convenience store when a man came in with a knife. The 2 men in this story that killed these people at this bowling alley about 3 and a half months after the bowling alley killings these 2 men were gunned down in a botched robbery attempt in Mexico. The Las Cruces Bowling Alley Massacre was one of the deadliest mass murders in New Mexico history. 1940 to 1950 function imgOn(imgName) { Its the single most famous UFO-related incident in United States history, and to this day, the town embraces its eerie claim to fame that an unidentified craft crashed just outside of town, and it was of extraterrestrial origins with open arms. For more New Mexico mysteries, check out Part 2 and Part 3. Required fields are marked *. JoAnne Harris Age. Ive always wondered if they ever found out who killed Cricket Koogler ( I think thats the way her name was spelled) in the late 1950s. As a lawyer and politician, Fountain was not without enemies. After all, its a strange man who invents his own secret society then uses it as a weapon against anyone who opposes him. streets, maybe even in your neighborhood. img6off.src="../images/btn6.jpg"; The men took between $4,000 and $5,000 from the safe and seemed ready to leave, but the robbery soon took an even darker turn. Steve and his children were ordered into the office, where his colleagues and friends were now being held, cowering on the floor.
