Son Plays Dumb After Cops Find His Missing Mom in the Deep Freezer

Source notes

ABOUT THIS VIDEO

A routine welfare check turns into one of the most disturbing discoveries of the year. A 69-year-old woman is reported missing. Her son says she moved to Mexico. But she never left the house. In this video, we break down the body camera footage, the neighbor interviews, and the investigation into a case that went unnoticed for weeks while the person responsible lived under the same roof. On October 28, 2025, officers with the Albuquerque Police Department in New Mexico were dispatched to a home for a welfare check after family members raised concerns about 69-year-old Ernestina Lucero. She hadn't been seen in weeks. When officers arrived, something felt off. Dogs were barking inside, but no one came to the door. While they waited, officers spoke with neighbors. They learned that the last time anyone had seen Ernestina, she was arguing with her son. After that, she was gone. Her son had been telling people she moved to Mexico with a boyfriend. Then he started asking neighbors if they wanted to buy her car, saying he needed money for rent. The story didn't add up. Eventually, her son, 49-year-old Leroy Vallejos, came to the door. He told officers his mother had left weeks earlier. As one officer spoke with him, another searched the home. They found her prescription medication still in her bedroom. Then an officer checked a freezer. That was the moment everything changed. Ernestina's remains were found inside. Investigators determined she had been killed weeks earlier. Her son had continued living in the home the entire time. According to reports, he had also withdrawn money from her account and arranged to sell her vehicle before she was ever reported missing. During questioning, Vallejos made a series of statements that investigators would later describe as delusional.…

Lenswatch indexes public metadata and embeds the original upload. It does not own, edit, or re-upload this footage. Titles and source descriptions come from the publisher and may change.