want to be part of it anymore. reporter: many who lost friends and relatives to the west mesa grave digger are convinced there could still be someone somewhere who knows something. because, they suppose, all those earlier rumors about the women being abducted, killed, and dumped in the desert had to have started somewhere. was it all hot air, or did someone with knowledge of the murders mix a kernel of truth into those rumors? we re not the only family that got a call saying that their, you know, sister, daughter was murdered and buried out there. somebody was trying to send a message at some point. could never trace it back. it led them to a dead end. reporter: though both dan and camille valdez believe michelle s killer is still alive, dan prefers these days to dwell on the things he knows for sure. i love you, michelle. i miss you, hon. reporter: that he once had a daughter named michelle who was the light of his life. that once she was lost and that now she s found.
the most pressing question of all who was responsible for turning the west mesa into an unmarked cemetery? and was he still at work? coming up searching for clues in a crime scene big enough to be seen from space. it s kind of erie looking at those satellite photos. that really sends a chill up and down your spine. when somebody s daughter continues. s. matt: whoo! whoo! jen: but that all changed when we bought a house. matt: voilà! jen: matt started turning into his dad. matt: mm. that s some good mulch. i m awake. but it was pretty nifty when jen showed me how easy it was to protect our home and auto with progressive. [ wrapper crinkling ] get this butterscotch out of here. progressive can t protect you from becoming your parents. there s quite a bit of work, cause this was all this was all stapled. but we can protect your home and auto when you bundle with us. is the fact that it s very, very tough on bacteria,
i just said, the information you gave me was plenty. of course, there was more dan needed to do that evening. he would have to tell michelle s 12 year old daughter angelica. and i said, angelica, detective lopez just told us that your mother has been positively i.d. d as one of the west mesa women. and that s when angelica looked at me and started crying. she said, no, don t tell me that, you re lying to me. don t lie to me. i said, honey, i m not. i m telling you the truth. it was a scene that no doubt had played out earlier at the family home of victoria chavez. but for the families of the other women on ida s list, the waiting and wondering would go on for months. for ida lopez, there was the fear that her nightmare prediction was coming true. i just always felt that if you find one you re going to find them all. and for albuquerque s homicide detectives, there was
coming up a suspect caught in the act. we approached the vehicle, opened the door. first words out of this girl s mouth was, he was trying to kill her. when somebody s daughter continues. y s daughter continues. what do you look for when you trade?
difficult to think of michelle living that kind of life. definitely. definitely. it was not the way that her mother and i raised her. reporter: those were long nights, filled with bittersweet memories of michelle the way she used to be, before the drugs took over. and thoughts of rare moments together before she went missing. she came over to the house one day, and i d given her a few dollars, and she stood up. she said, well, dad, i m going to run. i said all right. and she said she went up to put her arms around me, and i hugged her. and she said no, dad. squeeze me tight. squeeze me like you ve never squeezed me before. and i got her and i gave her the biggest hug a father could ever give his daughter. reporter: remembered moments like that sustained dan and drove him to continue his lonely search for michelle.