West Mesa Murders three years later

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Three years ago Thursday the first bone was uncovered in the massive grave site on Albuquerque's West Mesa that became the largest crime scene in the city's history.

The case, which eventually became knows as "West Mesa Murders," involved the murder of eleven women.

Albuquerque Police Department investigators have spent countless hours piecing together the unsolved murder mystery, but they still do not know, or will not name, the person they believe did it.

It was a curious woman walking her dog near Albuquerque's West Mesa who first saw a bone sticking out of the dirt back in February 2009, according to APD Deputy Chief Paul Feist.

"When we went out there the first time we thought, though tragic, it was a regular call," said Feist, who worked on the case when police first opened it.

After APD determined the bone was human, police dug and dug through the dirt weeks and weeks.

What looked more like an archeological dig than a crime scene eventually turned up the remains of 11 women and an unborn fetus.

The movie-like plot unfolded in the months and years that followed.

Police said one person targeted and killed the young women in their teens and 220s sometime between 2001 and 2006.

All the women had a similar story.

"They were in trouble with narcotics or prostitution," Feist said.

Police had some leads here and there including a man in Missouri whom they visited many times, but he was recently cleared from the case.

APD has said the public should not worry that there is a serial killer on the loose.

If that is the case does that means the killer is either in jail or dead?

Police do not know or they are not saying.

"Where this person is, whether alive dead or in jail, I can't answer that," Feist said. "I hope someday I can sit before you and say we definitely know who did it."

In October APD said they think there may be six more victims, women who went missing around the same time as the other 11.

Detectives know their names but not where they are buried.

APD is offering a $100,000 dollar reward in the case.

They have also set up a website to try to generate tips.