Justice
for Steven Teran, Valerie Teran,
Paula Holguin
and Amy Houser
After 12 years, the horrific events that took the
lives of three members of one family cannot be let
go. Steven Teran's family has had to live with the fact
that Steven, Paula and Little Valerie were
executed
on
February 10, 1990 for
absolutely no logical reason
in what
has long since been dubbed the "Bowling Alley
Massacre" in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Steven worked at Las Cruces Bowling Alley and his
wife was attending classes. This Saturday was no
different for the family, with Steven heading off
to work around 8:00 am taking his two little girls
along. The bowling alley had a daycare
center Valerie and Paula could stay in while he
worked and their mother attended her Saturday
class.
Already inside the Bowling Alley were the cook,
Ida, Stephanie, the owner's daughter and manager,
Stephanie's daughter Melissa, who was about 15 at
the time and Melissa's friend Amy Houser, who was
13. The two young girls were there to supervise
the daycare that day. Unknown to Steven, he was
walking right into a massacre that would scar the
very souls of families for years to come.
Steven walked through the door with his two little
girls right into the middle of a supposed
"Robbery" in progress. One of the two robbers met
them as they walked in and led them into the
office where the other four women were lying on
the floor. They were ordered on the floor and
within minutes the two robbers shot all seven
people execution style. They then started a
fire on the desk and fled, leaving all seven
people for dead.
Steven, Paula and Amy died instantly and Little
Valerie died on the way to the hospital. Ida,
Stephanie and Melissa survived. Despite being
shot, Melissa was able to get up and call 911,
then tried to put out the fire.
When
emergency personnel arrived, they found the office
full of smoke and seven bodies. They immediately
removed all the bodies outside. Although emergency
personnel were trying to save lives, in the
process evidence was destroyed.
Las
Cruces police had never encountered an incident
such as this and were not prepared to handle it
although they put in a tremendous effort when this
tragedy occurred.
The
suspects (at the time) were described as being of
Hispanic or Latin race, the older one from his
late 30's to early 40's, 5' 5", medium build about
160 to 180 pounds. The younger one was described
in his mid to late 20's, 5'6" to 5'8" medium
build, approx 190 pounds.
Ida
stated that she "sensed" that the robbers did not
have robbery as their primary motive, it was if
they "were looking for something else before they
went to the safe". Ida had also mentioned that
some time before this incident, she (and others)
thought she had seen people who looked exactly
like them sitting at a table and just watching
everyone, not bowling, playing pool, or anything
else offered at the bowling alley.
The
two suspects did not wear masks or gloves, and
were seen by many running across a very busy
street (Amador Ave) and alleyway. They were seen
by another bowling alley employee before he left
the parking area, prior to the incident, outside
the building. LCPD believes that someone may have
sheltered them after the incident.
This
tragedy has been covered on Unsolved Mysteries,
America's Most Wanted and Montel.
Despite numerous tips and possible suspects,
nothing has ever been solved in this tragedy.
Steven had ask his brother long ago to take care
of his daughters if anything ever happened to him,
and although his daughters have passed on, he is
still on a quest to "take care of them" and bring
all of them justice.
Please if you have any information about this
case, no matter how insignificant you may think it
is, please contact Detective Mark Meyers with the
Las Cruces Police Department.
