APD receives tips on pics

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Within 24 hours of releasing the photos they hope may be the key to solving the West Mesa murders, Albuquerque police say tips are coming in.

Unfortunately for now, it's a waiting game for police to see if anybody knows who the women in the pictures are and where it will lead them.

Police said once the six images were released Thursday afternoon, they received a spike in calls from people regarding the pictures and the buried bodies on the west mesa. In those 26 calls, however, there have been no valid leads or at least anything that police can release at this time.

Still, it's encouraging news that the public is responding.

( Update 3:15 p.m.: Albuquerque police have released a seventh photo of a woman they hope to identify. Tips on the six photos released Thursday now number 55.)

Investigators are trying desperately to find the killer who buried the 11 women whose skeletal remains were found early in 2009.

The six pictures released on Thursday, which police are calling their latest lead in the case, show women who they say are similar in age, race as well as size and profile to the victims buried on the mesa. Police believe the women in the pictures are from the Albuquerque area, but won't say how they obtained them.

The APD hotline to report information on the west mesa murders is 1-877-SOLV-APD (765-8273).