He's telling someone I'm rich. See, he's doing that right now. All those riches, bro. Why do you keep letting him in? He's going to hurt you, though. Cuz I feel like he might kill me, but he might kill me, but that's what I'm afraid of. >> [laughter] >> After an elderly woman fails to heed an officer's ominous warning about her son, Albuquerque police fear the worst when her face appears on missing persons posters. But nothing could prepare them for the twisted story behind her disappearance or the horrifying discovery waiting for them. She's going to freeze in. The following is based on official police records to date and some of the footage has never been seen before until now. Please note that all persons charged with a crime are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. In Albuquerque, New Mexico on October 28th, 2025, a care worker contacts police for a welfare check after receiving an unusual call from the son of one of her elderly clients. Over a week earlier, the same woman, 69-year-old Ernestina Lucero, had been reported missing by her niece. Officers arrive at the home Ernestina shares with her son, but despite knocking several times, they get no answer. They instead turn to the neighbors who share their own concerns. He was saying a bunch of things about her leaving to Mexico with her boyfriend. Um and that they were on a speaking basis right now. A couple days later, she came and knocked and he's like, "Hey, by any chance, do you want to buy my car? I'm trying to make money for weed." That's what he said. How long ago was that? Like 2 weeks ago. So, you haven't seen her in a couple weeks. >> Yeah. According to the neighbor, the dark gray Chevy Camaro belonged to Ernestina and was not his to sell. They were fighting before she left. They were fighting before she left. I know there was a couple nights where they were going at it. I have a 2-year-old and I've asked him to, you know, just take it down a little bit. And he's he's starting to fight him because we've asked him to take it down. He's like, "Yeah, I'm home." He uh he said he's the He doesn't say she went to Mexico, but did she get brain you walk? They add that her son, identified as 49-year-old Leroy Vallejos, should be home. They try knocking several more times, but he doesn't answer. Leroy, you need to come out, man. We're not going to go away. Come on, man. Yeah, come on. He's coming to the front door. Open up. Sorry, man. I thought it was someone else, dude. Can I come in and talk to you real quick? Yeah, yeah, no problem, man. Can I step in and talk to you? Oh, yeah, yeah, you come in. I'll just keep the dogs back. Dogs friendly? Yeah, they bite I mean, they bark, they don't bite, man. Okay. Yeah, you Can I shut the door so they don't run out? My partner's coming in, too. >> Okay. It's been rough two weeks, man. Sorry about that. I've been What's been going on? I don't know. Mom's into me, man, with college, work. I've been overstressed, tired, you know what I mean? 833-625-2525 Just trying to get some rest, man. Okay. Exhausted from worrying, you know what I mean? How long has she How I don't know. She usually like the 15 or something. 15? Leroy allows the officer to go into Ernestina's bedroom in order to search for any clues that may help them locate her. There, the officer finds a dresser and closet full of her clothing, as well as medications prescribed to Ernestina, items she likely would have taken with her. Meanwhile, his partner continues speaking with Leroy in the living room. So, we've gone called I had an appointment with the detective tomorrow to Who is detective? Speaks. Speaks Speaks, yeah. I'm going to meet with the detective. I'm trying to help, too, man. Okay, I'm going to tell you Like my mom had a some dude trying to get at me or something. And uh but I never came at her the same way. What do you mean she's been drinking a lot? >> do you use that harass face stuff? But uh I've never went at her like that, you know what I mean? >> Mhm. But this is far from the truth. 2 years earlier, in November of 2023, Ernestina contacted police after an incident with her son allegedly escalated to violence. So, [snorts] what happened today? I don't know. He fell asleep. He's really mad at me cuz I'm not taking him off his meds. See what he's doing to me right now? So, did he get Did he get physical or anything? Yeah, he did but he didn't, you know, really hurt me. Uh He pushed me on the bed and uh I told him to calm down but he didn't, you know. He said he was going to choke you? Well, he put his hands there and I pushed them off. So, if he really wanted to hurt me, kill me, he would have done it, you know. The officer advised Ernestina that the best course of action was to issue a summons and take Leroy to court on battery charges, but she was against the idea. Yeah, yeah. I just want him to get mental help. He should be in a mental hospital. You don't want eye charges? No, I want him to I just want him to stop cuz he can't get it. Yeah, at this point, with the way he's been behaving the last few days, it's just getting worse. Yeah, to the point where he With you people letting him in, he's going to hurt you, though. What could you do? >> I want him to get help. I really do cuz he needs to get banned me. Because he's already, you know, twice attacked me and uh Like I said, he really wanted to kill me, he would have killed me but that's what I'm afraid of. >> [laughter] >> Now, 2 years later, Ernestina has vanished. This has been going on for years, you know what I mean? I've never once raised a hand to her. You know, this last time I just told her, you know, I'm just tired of your lies. I don't believe you, man. I don't even think we should be around each other. It disgusts me cuz we used to be close. >> Uh-huh. Okay. So, now like I said, I got an appointment with the detective tomorrow. Okay. And I'm trying to help, man. I don't know how. They just paint me out to be the bad guy cuz I unfortunately we live together. You know, she's a grown woman. She sees some dude, Jose. I don't get in her business, dude, you know? Okay. And how long was she seeing Jose or Angel for? Uh I'm not sure. Uh Years, man. They were together for a while, dude. So, when did they recently break up? Uh no, they broke up a while ago. It was uh 2 3 years ago. If Ernestina and her boyfriend broke up several years ago, Leroy's claim that the pair went to Mexico together is that much harder to believe. Little do they know, Leroy is harboring more than one dark secret, and one of them is about to come to light. After leaving Ernestina's bedroom, the officer heads toward the kitchen. You can move that. I got that there for the dog. They keep by the fridge and uh there's like rats living at the bottom. I want that pee, you know what I mean? Oh, yeah, yeah. You got to get in there and you can see with the rats and uh How's it a mess, man? The officer digs through the clutter, pushing food aside until he sees black trash bags at the bottom. As he begins lifting them, a horrifying realization sets in. Uh week after 15th or 17th. >> [snorts] >> What's up, Boston? Step outside. Go and put your hand behind your back. All right. She's in the freezer. I know that. Hey, dude. I know we up be quiet. Sure, I know I know that. Sergeant, is there a supervisor? Since the dogs can't be allowed to roam what is now a crime scene, they let them stay in the back of the cruiser with Leroy. I lost my life, buddy. I'm sorry, guys. Okay? I'm sorry, guys. A sergeant soon arrives and is quickly brought up to speed. The officer then checks on his colleague. You all right? Yeah. I was freaking the hell hell [snorts] out at first. >> Yeah. But yeah, I'm good. Okay. Yeah. You sure? Yeah. I was yeah, I was not expecting I wouldn't have expected that either. I mean Yeah. I I thought I couldn't believe my eyes. I thought it was 31 right off the bat, but Yeah. I told you for the CS cuz I don't want to be I want them here to help make the determination and then I'll get my eyes on it cuz I'm going to She's like you're acting a black trash bag, but it's clearly the outline of a body. I would have you guys I would have turned myself in on probably the first couple of days, guaranteed. She wouldn't listen, man. She wouldn't stop. She wouldn't change. I tried everything, man. Please, save me, baby. Pray. Leroy waits for nearly 4 hours while the crime scene is processed. Finally, animal control arrives to take custody of his two dogs and informs him they'll be placed on a 14-day hold. >> [snorts] >> Leroy is brought into an interrogation room where he will soon share a chilling story full of unexpected twists. Before they begin, the detective asks him if there's anyone who can collect his two dogs from the animal shelter. Can I tell you, man? I don't know nobody. I know that a lot of your um you feel like a lot of your family members are kind of mixed up in all this. Is there anybody >> them are mixed up in that And a lot of people you'd be surprised. Is there anybody that you that you trust? >> I don't know. I don't know you guys live but all that whole neighborhood we live in a lot of them they swing that way. You know what I mean? A lot of witches in anything grow. In an attempt to understand more about Leroy's mental state, investigators speak with his brother and sister-in-law. His brother explains that Leroy suffers from delusions that may be connected to illicit substance abuse. He was pretty normal like when he was when he was not anything like he kind of stuck to himself a little bit but he would kind of have conversations with us normally, you know. Um and then when he was the reason I was assuming he was meant that he was on or maybe he's coming off of it, whatever. He was a lot different person. Ernestina brought up similar concerns during the incident with Leroy that occurred two years before her death. I thought he was going to be like he usually is in the mornings, going to be nice and everything. But then he started getting He always came to the doctor. I'm not playing the doctor. No matter what Well, I know we were out here yesterday as well. Is it still kind of the He's freaking out a little bit so maybe he did. Prevalent like meth-related, you think? You know, he was telling me that uh that she's hanging out with mad people and that uh our mom had promised our souls to the devil like mine and his, you know, and uh that I mean he went into the whole uh when he was uh married to his ex-wife, he saw a demon having sex with her. He said that Angel, my mom, and my grandmother had a devil baby or demon baby in the house that they saw that he saw that they were going to sacrifice or something, you know. I'm sure they're all from the same covenant, dude. Okay. That's real, man. I know how it sounds. All those witches, bro. Did you You know what's funny? How they all start calling on the Lord. You know how I mean? They all do the same. They start calling on the Lord and wanting justice. And all them evil just like that. The first sign of trouble the first comes to call the cops and You know what I mean? Get down and start praying to God. You do it, oh you're a rat and you you know what I mean? But they're the first start doing it. Leroy's brother believes there could be another reason for his delusions, recalling a tragic incident he supposedly suffered years ago while hitchhiking in Roswell, New Mexico. So he got in the car with them to get a ride. And I guess what had happened is they took him to like a house somewhere and I guess a bunch of guys beat him up, right? And then they cut him. That's why he's got that scar. So they just took a knife and cut him. They ran over him with a Ford Bronco, so he had uh shattered hips and his lungs were collapsed. And they left him in the field to die. Um and then somebody that was either in the area or saw what was going on had a bit of a conscience, whatever, called 911, you know, and said there's a guy in the field, basically. So they took him and had to fly him to Lubbock and he was there for a while. But like I said, it was like, you know, like a football. He was so beat up. No kidding. That's a bad like Yeah. >> brain injury. Yeah. That would be my guess. That's what I think started to intensify all this stuff, you know. Got you. Got you. People killing their people, their parents for crazy, bro. I was she to kill me every day of my life, dude? According to police records, Leroy believed his mother, working in concert with other conspirators, had spent the last 17 years waging a campaign of intimidation and harassment against him. Though it wasn't captured on camera, according to police records, Leroy admitted that before he attempted to dismember his mother, he first strangled her. During it, I was just like, why couldn't she just leave me alone? What did I ever do to you, hey? So, I love you, do everything. I could have really I don't know if this is my sister or not. I got nothing to hide from you guys or anybody, you know what I mean? I'm a man, dude. I can admit to whatever I do. But, what he'll soon admit goes far beyond what investigators could have ever imagined. After you killed your mother, did you You said you waited a couple days before trying to cut her up? Yeah. So, let the blood thicken? Yeah. I just I heard, but I really didn't want to do it that >> Where was she when you did that? Like, where'd you leave her? Like, in the freezer? >> Okay, you left her in the freezer. I told you, I put her in there and I left her in there. She just don't talk and never looked at her again, hey? Until you tried to >> bugs me, you know? Mhm. It still bugs me. I don't even want to see her, you know? I I love her, hey? I don't care what nobody says. I'll always love her, but According to police records, the care worker who requested the welfare check on Ernestina had become concerned when Leroy contacted them asking to receive pay for her care. One thing we found out I don't know if this is even related, but we didn't know about it, I guess, but we found the medical paperwork in her apartment, dated 2019. Mhm. It stated that she was like Uh what was >> progressive dementia. Oh, okay. >> And that she could I guess the letter was so that she could she could get into assisted living if she wanted. >> We didn't know she had dementia, you know what I mean? So, it's like probably why my brother was getting paid by the state to take care of her. After he called to request the money, he was transferred to Ernestina's case manager. It was then that Leroy disclosed that she was missing. I did tell him it's disturbing how you're pushing on your pain when you're not sleeping. Since then he was like >> Your mom's missing. Right. I mean I'm missing. And then he was like, "When am I going to get paid or not?" I said, "No." So then the call dropped in. Wow. Leroy's brother also shared his mother's banking information with detectives, revealing that Leroy continued to access and use her bank cards. The nightmares stopped. I had nightmares every night. They stopped at least. But still it wasn't worth it, hey. When did the nightmares stop? I don't know. I guess when I killed her. They stopped instantly. I finally slept. I was slept for over 30 minutes in 17 years. I kept getting up. It's a trip on her own, man. Says witchcraft. That she did witchcraft on me. I don't know if she did. So something you could prove, you know what I mean? During the investigation, detectives identified Ernestina's ex-boyfriend, the man Leroy had earlier claimed went with her to Mexico, as Jose Angel Frias. But as they dug deeper, a disturbing pattern began to emerge. Jose had also vanished. With a Spanish-speaking officer assisting as a translator, an investigator was able to reach Jose's brother by phone. So he says that he's been looking for him for 3 years. And is that yeah? Yeah. He worked at a Hilton Hotel here in Albuquerque. That's about all he knows. Okay. You want me to tell him that we're also looking for his brother? No, but tell him we'll start looking into it. Leroy's brother claims he only met Jose a couple of times, and he has no idea where he is now. As far as he knows, Jose left Ernestina years ago. I don't think he got along with my brother too much toward like sometimes like he just you know they their personalities nothing like with my brother with his paranoia, you know, he probably thought that Angel wanted to kill him, too, probably. I don't know. Um, so, maybe they didn't get along so well. That's probably part of the reason that that Angel guy like left. But, as Leroy's interrogation continues, he makes a damning admission regarding the missing man and the last time he ever saw him. When he was in bed, he was just Was he asleep? No, no, he wasn't. When I shot him the first time, he woke up. >> Where did you shoot him? I I never shot no one before like that, so I got a pillow and I pulled it to the gun. You know, the safety on? Mhm. >> [clears throat] >> And when I shot it, when it recoiled, it got stuck. He screamed me out of his wits. Scream I'd ever heard in my life that a man made. Mhm. It was awful, bro. I thought for sure I never kill no one after that. Then what happened? I didn't know what to do. I had to pull the pillow [clears throat] off, then I had to the gun and then I shot him again. Boom. Where'd you shoot him that time? After I shot him in the head twice. Okay. I don't know when did he move in the head. Like I said, it was a big old pillow. He was He was laying down. What happened after the second time you shot him? He stopped making that noise, eh? And he was He was dead then? Yeah. I don't know. And I know I felt really bad about that, eh, when I did that. I said my name was But, Leroy claims that his mother was in the living room at the time and must have heard the gunshots coming from the bedroom. She came in about the second time I shot him. She goes, "What did you do?" And I turned around and I pointed the gun at her and I I was like, "It should be you, too, eh?" I was like, "Call the cops before you go down." I said, "Call the cops, eh?" She's like, "I can't have you in prison. I need you." Then what happened? And then that went on. Did you cut him up? She took me to the Lowe's and bought us saw and all that. It was a good chainsaw cuz I never could have bought it on. Mhm. But uh I remember I did some work for a a company for a couple of years and that thing cut through everything. According to police records, a search warrant was executed on Leroy's apartment, in which they located a reciprocating saw with what appeared to be dried blood stains on the blade. It was found under the kitchen sink. Did you use the same saw as all? My mom threw it away. Did you throw that one away? But after we used it, my mom likes to keep everything. She wanted to keep it. Did you put Jose in the freezer at all? No. I put him in a freezer, too, by the way. I can't remember how how quick we did it. She helped me. I don't know why I thought to call cops, man. She wanted to hide the body. That's probably why I saw my saw the same thing, you know what I mean? Who knows? How long did it How long I know she got to go and talk to me, eh? And who was the one that Who was cutting? We both did. >> [clears throat] >> Both of you? Nah, she did most of it, though. Told me to, you know how I do it, man. She told me to. [clears throat] I didn't ask her about killing him in the room, cuz she wouldn't let me. But I was going to kill her that night, too, eh? But I couldn't. I couldn't bring myself to do it. So I figured maybe she's trying to take me out cuz I know she thinks I'm going to say something. She knows I wasn't. You know, I don't I don't know, man. It just started getting like like weird words, man. After and I wish I could bring her back. All the bad she's done to me. I would do anything to bring her back. I'd even trade places with her. According to court records, 49-year-old Leroy Vallejos was indicted on an open count of murder, as well as tampering with evidence and abuse of a resident resulting in death. He entered a plea of not guilty. After an evaluation, Leroy was determined to be incompetent to stand trial and was committed to the New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute for treatment aimed at restoring competency. Jose Angel Frias remains listed as a missing person on the New Mexico Department of Public Safety website. As of now, Leroy's statements regarding his and Ernestina's role in Jose's disappearance remain unsubstantiated.