24 years later, unsolved homicide still haunts Las Cruces family
As the sun was setting on June 24, 1994, Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Deputies made a gruesome discovery: the body of 46-year-old Robert Rocha.
Investigators said he was shot to death and found naked laying naked next to his 1985 Ford pickup truck.
Twenty-four years later, neither Rocha’s family nor the the sheriff’s office have answers. The mysterious death has been labeled a cold-case.
“I keep on because they hurt our family very much,” said Rebecca Rocha Garibay.
Her hands clasped and eyes swelled with tears, as she paused to look at the ceiling, trying to maintain her composure while fighting back the pain of what happened to her big brother.
A giant cross, made of railroad tracks, was installed in the back of the family’s property. It’s a memorial to their brother that once was placed at the very spot 43-year-old Robert died.
“I know I would cry, and I would go to the site listen to the music full blast,” said Garibay. “I just wanted to get lost but I couldn’t’t.”
More than 200 interviews have been logged over the past two decades, according to the DASO Cold Case Unit.
“I bug, I bug and I bug,” said Garibay.”For 24 years, I have been one big bug. It makes me very very upset because I feel like nothing is getting done.”
In the meantime, with the uncertainty of the case, some family member still live in fear.
“We had a phone call that said we know who did it and then they would hang up,” Garibay said. “Awful, mean.”
Family members said several similar incidents have happened over the years.
“Do you know that they called my mom and dad, and they told my mom and dad that they needed to take care of my nieces, his daughters, because somebody wanted to know how much life insurance he was going to get,” Gariby said. “How could they live so many years living like this and not saying a thing. They must be very very cruel.”
If you have any information that can lead to a break in this case, and help bring the family closure call Las Cruces Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
You could collect a $2,500 cash reward.
Click the link : www.crimestoppersLC.info
