West Mesa search warrants executed

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Albuquerque police searched the homes and one business of a Joplin, Missouri man Tuesday in connection to the 118th street murder investigation .

"We're hoping that we'll have some information and that it will help us in our investigation," said Ofc. Nadine Hamby. "Ultimately, what we want , is the person responsible for this incident to be behind bars or at least to link the person if the person is deceased or already behind bars."

A source close to the investigation said that they're not calling Ron Erwin a suspect or even a person-of-interest. Two of Erwin's homes and his photography business were searched by Albuquerque police with the help from investigators with the Federal Bureau of Investigations and Joplin police.

Ron Erwin owns a health food store, and photography studio in the city of about 50 thousand, in Missouri.

He closed a book, record and vintage clothing shop last month, but plans to open a costume shop this fall.

His mother said Erwin got into photography about 15 years ago and would travel the 750 miles to Albuquerque every year for the state fair.

His mother said he would come to see the parade and take pictures of the bands. She said music is one of his passions.

The elder Erwin said her son would always travel alone and rent a hotel room.

She said he has no family or friends in Albuquerque.

She called her own son a loner.

But she said his trips to Albuquerque stopped about six years ago when his father became ill and died right about the time Albuquerque Police believe the murders stopped.

Erwin's travel blog shows he's taken about 20 trips since then to Vietnam, Ecuador, and India, where he likes to take pictures of the poor to bring attention to their plight.

Another man in town who knows Erwin and saw him just this weekend at their 40th high school reunion told me the 57 year old is very kind, but has always been different and a little strange.

Police said they'll likely be in Joplin for the next couple of days. Erwin's grocery store, Foxfarm Wholefoods, was temporarily closed. However, police could not confirm whether it had been searched or if it had been closed because of the warrants.

Myra Salazar, whose daughter went missing in 2004 with her cousin, heard about the warrants through KRQE News 13.

Salazar said she's still trying to accept what happened to her daughter, Evelyn Salazar.

"It's hard for me to talk because I miss my daughter so much," Myra Salazar said.

Evelyn and her cousin, Jamie Barela, were two of eleven women killed and then buried out on Albquerque's west mesa between 2003 and 2005. One of the women found was pregnant when she was murdered.

A source close to the investigation said Erwin, who has owned several businesses from grocery to collectible stores, is someone who peaked their interest because his behavior fits the profile of someone who would target women who lived the lifestyle that the eleven victims did; they all had some type of connection to prostitution or drugs.

The source said Erwin traveled a lot for his job, and may have traveled or had ties to Oklahoma. That's where Syllania Edwards, the youngest west mesa victim, had lived before she somehow made her way to Albuquerque where her body was ultimately found.

Erwin also apparently used a web site to log his travels, which showed that he had come to New Mexico in 2007. Although that is two years after the victims went missing, Erwin didn't register on the site until that year.

The warrant on his homes and business is the sixth search warrant to be served in the West Mesa investigation and the first out-of-state, according to a source.

Police have always said there were several suspects or persons-of-interest that they were looking into; and that the list consisted of as many as eight people or as few as three.

Salazar said Erwin didn't look familiar, and that it was somehow difficult to look at the face of man who could help solve her daughter's murder.

She said the only comfort is knowing her daughter and Barela weren't alone in the end.

"I would like to know what happened to those girls," Salazar said.