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Eleventh body found in New Mexico desert

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  • NEW: Eleventh body found at site west of Albuquerque, New Mexico
  • One body found earlier has been identified as a prostitute reported missing in 2004
  • First bodies were discovered two weeks ago by a woman walking her dog
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(CNN) -- Another body was found in the same 92-acre parcel west of Albuquerque, New Mexico, where the remains of 10 other people have been discovered, police said Thursday.

An Albuquerque, New Mexico, police forensics team member digs at the burial site.

An Albuquerque, New Mexico, police forensics team member digs at the burial site.

The latest discovery was made Tuesday, and the remains were recovered Wednesday, Albuquerque police spokesman John Walsh said. Like the others, it was sent to the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator, he said.

A woman walking her dog found the first bodies earlier this month on the property, which had been graded in preparation for development. The graves are on about 10 acres, police spokeswoman Nadine Hamby said earlier, but that area keeps expanding.

So far, 11 bodies have been found, including those of a first-trimester fetus with those of a pregnant woman.

Police believe the bodies were buried sometime in the earlier part of the decade, Walsh said Thursday.

Authorities have identified two of the remains, Walsh said. Body No. 8 belongs to Gina Valdez, who was born in 1982, he said. Valdez was pregnant, and the remains of her fetus were with her.

Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz told reporters that Valdez had a prior criminal history that included arrests for prostitution and drug charges, according to CNN affiliate KRQE-TV.

Earlier, police had identified another set of remains as belonging to Victoria Chavez, a prostitute and drug user who was last seen in 2003 and reported missing in 2004.

Authorities are investigating how the two women's paths may have crossed, Walsh said.

Valdez's father, Dan Valdez, told KRQE she was 22 when he reported her missing four years ago. Despite her rough lifestyle, he said, "she was my daughter and didn't deserve to be buried in the desert."

Hamby said earlier there is housing south and east of the vacant land. After rain caused flooding, surrounding neighbors complained to the developer, who made culverts to divert the water, apparently bringing the first remains to the surface.

All About New MexicoMurder and Homicide

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