Borderland Crimes

Sophia Martinez, 18, headed out to a blind date on Friday, March 10, 2000. But she never made it to the dance club in downtown El Paso. Sophia’s body was found in the desert just north of the city limits the following day; she had been shot numerous times. The only clue to what happened was a grainy ATM surveillance video showing someone shooting her while she pulled cash. The man in a black beanie then climbed into her car and forced her to drive off at gunpoint. The months that followed were a terrifying time for her family as well as the community, as the killer remained at large. Police managed to track down her killer when a witness could no longer keep the dark secret.

The peace and quiet in an affluent, historic Central El Paso neighborhood was shattered by gunfire during a violent attack in Nov. 2020. Georgette Kaufmann, a respected state attorney and beloved mother and wife, was killed. Her husband Daniel was shot, but survived. The gunman escaped into the night, not to be found for almost a year. The suspect’s alleged motive leads investigators – and many in the community – to believe he targeted the couple for their political beliefs.

The date between Erika Gaytan and Ricardo Marquez to a concert ended with Gaytan not returning home. Her family immediately believed something terrible happened to the 29-year-old woman; her mother said there was no way she would abandon her 7-year-old son. Continuous searches throughout El Paso – including in the sprawling desert east of the city – did not yield her remains. Despite her body not being found and a cause of death unknown, police arrested and charged Marquez with her murder. Could the 28-year-old’s behavior leading up to and after Gaytan’s disappearance be enough to convince a jury he is a killer?

An Army vet who survived combat in Afghanistan was murdered in El Paso.  Tyler Croke was in the shower at a friend’s apartment when he was ambushed, held at gunpoint, then brutally killed.

A total of five people – some of them soldiers – were arrested and charged with Tyler’s murder. El Paso police investigators said they had wanted to rob Tyler of the drugs he had been selling.

And five years later, only two suspects have been sentenced.

The family of the murdered veteran fears justice may be out of reach as concerns emerge from on all sides of the case.

In this special episode of Borderland Crimes, ABC-7 talks with one of the survivors of the massacre at Las Cruces Bowl on the 32nd anniversary of the crime.

Ida Holguin recounts the morning two men held her and six others at gunpoint, shooting them and leaving them for dead. Three of the five who died were children.

If you have information in the case, you can call Las Cruces Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS.

For a full retelling of this case, listen to episode #6 of Borderland Crimes called "Massacre at Las Cruces Bowl: America's Largest Unsolved Mass Shooting."

RJ Franco was shot to death outside of a bar in east El Paso on Jan. 29, 2017. The moments leading up to the shooting, as well as the shooting itself, were caught on surveillance camera and the suspect was arrested at the scene. The suspect, Moises Galvan, told police he shot Franco in self-defense. Nearly 5 years after the shooting, Galvan remains in jail as both he and Franco’s parents await justice. There was a mistrial in 2019, and no retrial date is on the calendar. Now, the state of Texas is officially investigating the judge’s handling of the case.

A little girl got separated from her family during a holiday shopping trip to a busy retail store and seemed to vanish into thin air. Dread settled in for her family and the entire community once surveillance camera video emerged, showing the 5-year-old girl walking out of the store with an unknown man. The girl was found dead the following morning. It’s a case that traumatized a community and reminded parents that danger really can hide in plain sight.

The murder of Robert Rocha, 43, has remained unsolved for nearly three decades. The retired U.S. Navy veteran and father of three daughters was found shot to death at Mesilla Dam outside Las Cruces, NM, on June 28, 1994. The Dona Ana County Sheriff's detectives still haven't arrested and charged anyone with the crime. But Rocha's daughter thinks someone who was once close to her father -- and is well known by the entire family -- has information that could break open the case. If you have information on this case, call Las Cruces Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS (8477).

When Gloria Marmolejo, a 54-year-old mom and grandmother, was found dead in the southern New Mexico desert in the summer of 2009, her family pleaded for the community’s help to find whoever murdered her. But investigators with the El Paso Police Department believed her son, David, was the killer -- and they learned he was hiding other secrets big enough to destroy his family.

If you are in a violent relationship or someone you know is in a dangerous situation, call The National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800.799.SAFE (7233) or visit www.thehotline.org. You can also call El Paso's Center Against Sexual and Family Violence at (915) 593-7300 or visit casfv.org.

An El Paso woman learned a horrible secret about her family: her great-grandfather had been massacred, along with 14 other men and boys, on Jan. 28, 1918. When Arlinda Valencia learned who was to blame for the terrible act, she realized more needed to be done to expose the dark past of a legendary law enforcement agency, the Texas Rangers.

Learn more about the massacre: https://www.porvenirmassacre.org/