Helen Valdez
I have photographed a lot of roadside crosses – for a decade, I stopped at nearly every one I drove by.
And then, I was done, and only rarely stop for them these days.
But the other weekend in New Mexico, we drove by this one, with that “unsolved murder” sign attached to it. It required some u-turns to get back to it, of course, but I wasn’t going to not stop.
Since then, I tried to find out what happened to Helen Valdez. And I learned these things:
1. She was 80 years old.
2. On the night of December 14, 2004, she disappeared from her home after trip to a nearby Walmart to pick up groceries.
3. Her family reported her missing the next day, and although there was evidence of a struggle at her house, neither she nor her body were located there.
4. In April 2005, following a confidential tip, officers found her body on a remote road in a national forest.
5. Her grandson, Joshua Garcia was arrested that same month, and charged with her murder. The lead came from a local woman, a known drug user, who stated that Garcia had confessed to the murder.
6. His trial was set to begin in November 2005, and the prosecutors sought a delay in order to receive more comprehensive forensics reports.
7. And then, in January 2006, all charges relating to Helen Valdez’s murder were dropped.
8. On a side note, the woman who implicated Garcia was herself arrested eight times between November 2004 and January 2007; she was apparently never investigated for the murder.
9. Joshua Garcia passed away unexpectedly on June 10, 2018. He was 41 years old.
10. There have been no further developments.
(Check me out, turning, temporarily, into a true-crime blogger.)(But not a very good one – I didn’t solve the crime or anything.)
Hernandez, New Mexico
photographed 9.1.2019
Posted on September 10, 2019, in Photography and tagged 365 photo project, black and white photography, Helen Valdez, learning to see, melinda green harvey, monochrome, murder, new mexico, one day one image, photo a day, photography, postaday, road trip, take time to look, thoughtful seeing, travel photography, unsolved murder. Bookmark the permalink. 8 Comments.
That’s such an interesting photo. 🙂
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Thanks, Gilian. The “unsolved murder” sign really drew me in, and kept me there for a while.
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So sad. Just one of too many I’m afraid. Eat so glad you posted and the history.
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Thanks, Richard. I didn’t feel right posting the photo without giving what I knew of Helen’s sad story.
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Sadly there are too many stories with a similar theme. I guess there is always some reason, never a good one, that these things happen. It’s understandable that you were moved by this and thank you for sharing it. People deserve their stories to be told, whether good or bad, and it’s good of you to allow her a little more “life” as it were.
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Thank you, Steve – as I mentioned to another commenter, I didn’t feel right posting the photo without telling what I knew of Helen’s story.
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A picture may be worth a thousand words, but sometimes it takes dialogue to make sure they are the right words.Yours were.
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Thank you so much, Steve. My usual posts are a lot easier to write than this one was, so I’m glad to know you thought I found the right words.
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