Las Cruces Crime Stoppers is offering a $25,000 reward for information that helps identify the men suspected of the Feb. 10, 1990, mass-shooting that claimed four lives that day and left three others critically injured.
The “Las Cruces Bowl Massacre,” as it’s become known, is commonly considered one of the most hideous crimes in the city’s history as the gunmen pulled the trigger on four children – two of them younger than 7 – and three adults.
The Las Cruces-Dona Ana County Crime Stoppers board of directors voted unanimously Feb. 17 to allocate the $25,000 cash reward for information that helps positively identify the suspects. The previous Crime Stoppers reward was $1,000 which was standard for murder cases in 1990.
“There is not a day that goes by that this case doesn’t weigh on our minds,” said Jake Miles, chairperson for Crime Stoppers of Las Cruces and Doña Ana County. “Anything we can do to bring closure to the victims’ families whose lives were irreparably changed that day is a step in the right direction. Making a significant increase in the reward offered in this case is something Crime Stoppers felt had to be done.”
“This is big,” said Jaime Montoya, chief of the Las Cruces Police Department. “A $25,000 cash reward might very well prompt someone to come forward with the vital information we need to solve this case.”
Shortly after 8 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 10, 1990, police were dispatched to what was then known as Las Cruces Bowl, at 1201 E. Amador Ave., where four children and three adults were found shot execution-style.
Inside the bowling alley, first-arriving officers found three victims already dead: 26-year-old Steven Teran, his 6-year-old daughter Paula Holguin and 13-year-old Amy Hauser. Police found Teran’s 2-year-old daughter, Valerie Teran, clinging to life. Valerie was rushed to a local hospital but died a short time after arrival.
Wounded during the shooting were 12-year-old Melissa Repass, her mother Stephanie Senac, 34, and 33-year-old Ida Holguin (no relation to Paula). They were transported to area hospitals and survived. Senac died years later from complications related to the injuries she sustained.
The two men responsible for the mass shooting have never been positively identified.
Investigators believe the suspects stole an estimated $5,000 in cash from the business before setting fire to the office in what was believed to be an attempt to destroy evidence.
Investigators believe the suspects are Hispanic with dark complexions. Both suspects were said to speak clear English.
In 1990, the older suspect was said to be in his late 30’s or early 40’s, 5-feet-5-inches tall with a medium build and weighing between 160 and 180 pounds. The younger suspect was believed to be in his late 20’s, between 5-feet-6 and 5-feet-8-inches tall with a medium build and weighing around 190 pounds.
Today, the older suspect might be in his late 50’s or early 60’s. The younger suspect is possibly in his late 40’s or in his early 50’s. Composite sketches of the men were drawn in 1990 and again in 2005 to depict how they may have aged.
Anyone with information that can help identify the suspects is asked to call Las Cruces Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or send a tip by text message to CRIMES (274637), keyword LCTIPS.
The Crime Stoppers number and text messaging services are operational 24 hours a day and you do not have to give your name to collect a reward.
Information from Las Cruces Police