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Tips sought in LC cold case

LAS CRUCES — A new composite sketch of an unidentified girl found dead in the desert north of Las Cruces nearly 27 years ago has renewed hope among investigators that the victim may finally be identified, according to the Doña Ana Sheriff's Office.

Rabbit hunters stumbled upon the shallow grave of human remains on March 10, 1985, at a location off Interstate 25 near Upham. Through autopsy, the New Mexico Office of the Medical Examiner determined the body was that of a Caucasian female, between 16 and 19 years old, with a slight build and blonde or light brown hair, who had likely buried three to six months prior to being discovered.

During the initial investigation, a clay reconstruction was created using the skeletal remains of her face, including a lower human jaw bone. Images of that reconstruction were made public, but did not result in any solid leads.

To read more and view the composite sketch, click here.

Reward increased in unsolved LC triple homicide

From the Las Cruces Sun-News:

Las Cruces Crime Stoppers is hoping that an additional $5,000 in reward money will spark new clues in the April 2010 triple homicide that occurred on Mesilla Hills Drive.

On March 1, the estate of Peter Weith gave Las Cruces Crime Stoppers $5,000 as reward money to help solve the crime. In December the Gilles and Helga Delisle estate provided $8,000 in reward money.

The new total reward for information that leads to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for the murders, including the initial $2,000 provided by Crime Stoppers, now stands at $15,000.

On the morning of Thursday, April 15, 2010, the bodies of Peter J. Weith, and Gilles L. and Helga Harries Delisle, were discovered inside a home at 2617 Mesilla Hills Dr. Investigators learned that the three victims had been shot to death.

The Dona Ana County Sheriff's Department continues to seek information on the triple homicide and asks for anyone with information - no matter how relevant or insignificant that information is believed to be - to call Crime Stoppers. The identities of those who provide information can be kept anonymous.

If you have any information on who may have committed this crime you are asked to call Las Cruces Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or send a tip via text message to LCTIPS (528477). The Crime Stoppers number and text messaging services are operational 24 hours a day and you do not have to give your name to collect a reward.

NMSU police still seek clues in disappearance of mom, son

LAS CRUCES -- The little boy's floppy bangs would be gone now, his smile lines deeper, a few crows' feet around the squint of his eyes.

Maybe. That's just the best guess of the age-progression experts at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Two decades ago Wednesday, on Feb. 23, 1991, the boy -- Nicholas Smith, 11, and his mother, Edyth Ann Dewees Warner, 35, disappeared from New Mexico State University student housing. As part of its ongoing effort to find the two and put the mystery to rest, the center this week is asking for the public's help solving the case.

Edyth's husband, Henry Warner -- with whom Edyth had another, younger, son, now grown -- didn't report the disappearance to police for a week, and told authorities the two had left the house on foot, leaving behind Edyth's car and taking almost $1,000 in cash and $10,000 in gold coins. He didn't tell his wife's parents about the disappearance until March, when they became concerned that their daughter wasn't returning calls.

Read more here.

'Nightmare in Las Cruces' at Premiere Cinema on Friday; filmmaker to speak at EP B&N locations

EL PASO -- "A Nightmare in Las Cruces," director Charlie Minn's documentary about the Feb. 10, 1990, shootings that claimed nine lives in a Las Cruces bowling alley, will be shown in El Paso on Friday.

The movie, which has drawn big crowds in Las Cruces, examines the unsolved murders, and it has generated tips to local police since it began showing there earlier this month.

The filmmaker will hold free forums at 7 p.m. today at the West Side Barnes & Noble, 705 Sunland Park, and 7 p.m. Thursday at the East Side Barnes & Noble, 9521 Viscount.

View showtimes

"A Nightmare in Las Cruces" official site

'A Nightmare in Las Cruces' opens today, the 20th anniversary of bowling alley massacre

(Photo of crime scene courtesy LCPD)

"A Nightmare in Las Cruces," Charlie Minn's film on the 1990 bowling alley massacre in Las Cruces, opens at the Mesilla Valley Mall theater in Las Cruces today. Click here for showtimes.

Click here to read the Las Cruces Sun-News article about the unsolved killings that ran earlier this week.

Documentary about Las Cruces bowling alley massacre will premiere soon

WARNING: Graphic content

Filmmaker Steve Minn will debut his documentary about the Las Cruces bowling alley massacre on the 20-year anniversary of the Feb. 10, 1990, attack.

Seven people were shot execution-style during the robbery of Las Cruces Bowl. Four of the victims died in the attack.

The case remains unsolved.

The official Web site for "A Nightmare in Las Cruces" is here, and KTSM.com has more about the documentary.

A speaking forum with Minn and massacre survivors will be held at 6 p.m. Feb. 1 at the Las Cruces Barnes and Noble, which is inside Mesilla Valley Mall on 700 South Telshor Boulevard.

The film will premiere in Las Cruces on Feb. 10 at Cineport 10 at the Mesilla Valley Mall.