In armed robberies, shots are generally fired only if a victim offers resistance. Most robbers want to get the loot and get out as quickly as possible without resorting to violence.

When businesses are robbed, workers are generally told to do exactly what a perpetrator says if a weapon is brandished. Money can and often is recovered, but a life cannot be reclaimed. Generally, if people comply with the robbers’ demands, no shots are fired.

There are, of course, exceptions to every rule. Las Cruces, New Mexico, a city of 95,000 people approximately forty miles from the Mexican border, was the scene of one of the worst examples.

On the morning of February 10, 1990, seven people were shot at point blank range at the Las Cruces Bowl. Four died and a fifth succumbed several years later from injuries incurred in the shooting. The two survivors, as well as the Las Cruces community, are still traumatized by the incident.

The Las Cruces Bowling Alley massacre was a calamity committed by the human epitome of evil. Adding to the agony is that, thirty-four-years later, the killers’ identities are still unknown.

The Las Cruces Bowl was a popular hangout as it connected to a restaurant/bar and a daycare center. On the morning of February 10, 1990, the business was scheduled to open at 9:00 a.m.

Before patrons set to strike down the pins, however, two men planned to strike the facility with deadly weapons.

A Local Hangout

At 8:00 a.m., Steve Senac stopped to visit with his sister Stephanie, the day manager of Las Cruces Bowl, owned by their father Ron. They chatted as she tallied the receipts from the previous evening.

Steve left the bowling alley after approximately ten minutes. As he exited the parking lot around 8:15 a.m., he observed two men walking from the back of the building to the front. Several other people saw the men as well. They appeared to Hispanic, one significantly older than the other.

The older man handed the younger man a small case and squatted down and made eye contact with Steve as he drove away. Steve thought nothing of the encounter.

Side View Of The Bowling Alley

Five minutes later, at approximately 8:20 a.m., Ida Holguin, the cook in the restaurant portion of the bowling alley, was startled when one of the men stormed into the kitchen from an unlocked side door commonly used by vendors.

Wielding a gun, the man ordered Ida into the office where the second man was holding Stephanie, her twelve-year-old daughter, Melissa Repass, and her friend, thirteen-year-old Amy Houser, at gunpoint. The girls had planned to supervise the daycare that day, a Saturday.

The gunmen ordered Stephanie to open the business safe; she complied without hesitation.

Top: Amy Houser, Melissa Repass

Bottom: Ida Holguin, Stephanie Senac

As the robbery was in progress, Las Cruces Bowl’s twenty-six-year-old mechanic, Steven Teran, arrived with his two-and-a-half year-old daughter Valerie and his seven-year-old stepdaughter Paula Holguin, no relation to Ida.

Steven, an Army National Guard member and New Mexico State University student, was off work that day, but after being unable to find a babysitter for his girls, he intended to leave them at the daycare. Seeing no one upon entry, he and his young girls made their way to the office at the worst possible time.

Paula Holguin, Valerie Teran, and Steven Teran

Immediately upon entering the office, Steven and his children were confronted by the gunmen and ordered to the ground with the others.

After taking approximately $5,000 from the safe, the robbers became killers. Although all seven people had complied with their orders without any resistance, they were shot multiple times in the backs of their heads as they were crouched on the floor, petrified with fear.

All Seven Are Shot

Before fleeing, the gunmen set fire to the office.

Potential clues were innocently destroyed by firefighters who used hoses to suppress the fire and by first responders tending to the victims.

Office Set Ablaze

Despite being shot five times in the head, twelve-year-old Melissa Repass managed to call 911. Here is the audio of her call.

CAUTION: May be disturbing.

Steven Teran, Paula Holguin, and Amy Houser were pronounced dead at the scene.

Valerie Teran died at Memorial General Hospital later that day.

The Killed:

Steven, Paula, Valerie, Amy

Stephanie Senac, Ida Holguin, and Melissa Repass survived.

The Survivors:

Ida, Stephanie, Melissa

The shots were determined to have been fired from two .22 caliber pistols. Composite sketches of the gunmen were created based descriptions from the survivors and those who saw them loitering around the bowling alley prior to the shooting. They are believed to have fled in a green four-wheel drive vehicle, possibly a van.

Police set roadblocks surrounding Las Cruces within an hour of the shooting and screened anyone leaving the city. The United States Army and Border Patrol, as well as the United States Customs Service, used planes and helicopters to scan the area but were unable to pick up the gunmen’s trail.

The men appeared to be Hispanic; an Associated Press article shortly after the shooting said a similar crime had recently been committed in Mexico. Mexican authorities also searched for and attempted to identify the men, but they also came up empty.

Composites Of The Killers

The motive for the shooting is unclear and the amount of money taken from the bowling alley is puzzling. The killers absconded with approximately $5,000 in cash but left more money in the safe. Police have not released the amount of money not stolen.

Some authorities believe the murders were a result of a robbery gone wrong, even though none of the victims offered any resistance. Ida said the gunmen seemed surprised at how many people were in the bowling alley, leading some to theorize they became rattled. They may have further been spooked when Steven and his daughters arrived at the bowling alley while the robbery was in progress, and shot everyone in a panic.

Other investigators believe the murders were drug-related and that the perpetrators had to be high on something to commit such a vicious and needless act.

The Motive For the Massacre Is Unknown

Stephanie Senac suffered from head injuries resulting from the shooting, the complications of which contributed to her death in 1999 at age forty-three.

The Shooting Contributes To Stephanie’s Premature Death

Ida Holguin and Melissa Repass are the only two survivors of the attack. Ida still suffers from headaches and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) resulting from the shooting.

The Survivors Are Still Suffering 

Somehow, the ruthless perpetrators of the Las Cruces Bowl Massacre remain unknown after over thirty-four years.

In 1990, the younger man appeared to be in his late twenties to early thirties, stood approximately five-feet-ten-inches tall and weighed around one-hundred-seventy pounds. He had dark, wavy hair with a light complexion and light colored eyes. He spoke excellent English with no Spanish accent. He would now probably be in his early-to-mid- sixties.

The older man appeared to be forty-to-fifty-years-old, approximately five-feet-seven-inches tall and one-hundred-forty-pounds. He had thinning salt-and-pepper hair, brown eyes, and a dark complexion. He spoke with a slight Spanish accent and would now likely be approximately seventy-to-eighty-years-old.

The accents and complexions described by witnesses lead authorities to believe the men are Hispanic but not from Mexico.  Investigators are attempting to create DNA profiles of the killers from the little amount of evidence found at the crime scene.

Composites and Age Enhancements Of The Killers

An Additional Aged-Enhanced Composite

Las Cruces Crime Stoppers is offering a $25,000 reward for information that helps identify the gunmen.

Anyone with potential information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477) or send a tip by text message to CRIMES (274637), keyword LCTIPS. The number and text messaging services are operational twenty-four hours a day, and callers may remain anonymous.

You may also call the Las Cruces, New Mexico, Police Department at (575) 526-0795.

Killers Still Unknown

Las Cruces Bowl was later sold and renamed Sun Lanes, and later, Ten Pin Alley. It closed in 2018.

Bowling Alley Sold

Another still unsolved homicide occurred in Las Cruces less than one month before those at the bowling alley.

On January 14, 1990, thirty-two-year-old gas station attendant Salvador “Chava” Lozano, was found bound and shot to death at Ray’s Service Shell. His killer was determined to have absconded with $500.

Although he was shot in the back of the head, in the same manner as the bowling alley victims, authorities do not believe the murders were committed by the same perpetrators.

I could not find a picture of Salvador Lozano.

Salvador Lozano’s Widow, Valerie,

And Children, Four-Year-Old Jacob And Four Week-Old Dezaraie

 

https://www.findagrave.com/virtual-cemetery/432757

 

SOURCES:

• Albuquerque Journal
• America’s Most Wanted
• KFOX Channel 14 El Paso, Texas
• Las Cruces Sun Times
• Santa Fe New Mexican
• Unsolved Mysteries