Who were the four victims of Juan David Ortiz? Details explored ahead of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered on Oxygen
The upcoming episode of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered looks into the crimes committed by Juan David Ortiz in 2018. Ortiz was a Navy veteran who had been employed as a United States Border Patrol officer when he went on a rampage to kill s*x workers, in what he reportedly claimed was an attempt to clean the streets.
Juan David Ortiz killed Melissa Ramirez (29), Claudine Anne Luera (42), Guiselda Alicia Hernandez (35), and Janelle Ortiz (28) in 2018. His fifth target escaped and reported Ortiz to a law enforcement official on September 14, 2018.
The Dateline: Secrets Uncovered episode, titled The Streets of Laredo, sheds light on the crimes committed by Juan David Ortiz when the episode airs on Oxygen on Wednesday, November 20, 2024. The official synopsis of episode 3 of season 14 reads,
"Law enforcement officers investigate a string of deadly shootings targeting women in the border city of Laredo, Texas."
How did Juan David Ortiz take four women as victims? Details explored
The episode titled Dateline: The Streets of Laredo details the four murders committed by Ortiz in 2018, according to USA Today. The standard mode of operation involved Ortiz picking up women in his white Dodge pickup, after which he took the women out to the suburbs and shot them fatally in the head.
According to a report by NBC News in December 2018, attorney Isidro Alaniz claimed Ortiz did not choose his victims randomly as he reportedly knew the first two victims. His targets were primarily from San Bernardo Avenue wherein they operated as s*e workers. Ortiz's first victim was Melissa Ramirez, 29, who was a mother to two children— a boy aged 3 and a girl aged 7. Melissa's mother, Maria Cristina Benavides, recounted to LMT Online in September 2018,
“(Melissa) loved music and watching TV with the kids. They would watch cartoons. She would cook for them when she was here, sometimes all three meals. She didn’t like me scolding them.”
Melissa's murder took place on September 3, 2018, wherein Juan drove her out of the city for 30 miles and shot her thrice in the head while she stepped out to urinate.
Juan David Ortiz then picked up the mother of five, Claudine Anne Luera (42), and killed her on September 13 by shooting her multiple times. She was left to die on Toll Road 255 towards the north side of Laredo. The crime scenes of Melissa and Claudine were found to have similar 40-caliber shell casings.
The third victim was Erika Peña who escaped and tipped off a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper about her abduction and the details of Ortiz's car. The officers started looking into the case after the Stripes Circle K gas station tip. Ortiz took two more victims, Guiselda Alicia Hernandez Cantu, 35, and Janelle Ortiz, 28, on September 15, 2018.
Juan David Ortiz was arrested on September 15 and during the investigation, he revealed the whereabouts of the last victim that he took. Before the police arrested Juan, he put up cryptic messages on his Facebook which read,
“To my wife and kids, I love u (sic).”
Ortiz was indicted of all four murders and was eventually found guilty and sentenced to life without parole on December 7, 2022.
Catch all the details on Dateline: Secrets Uncovered's new episode titled The Streets of Laredo which airs on Wednesday on Oxygen.
