New Mexico’s most notorious unsolved crime

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) –They were tourists on a driving tour of the west. They stopped in Albuquerque, then disappeared and were never seen again. Even though the kidnapping and ruthless murder of two middle-aged couples ranks among New Mexico’s most infamous unsolved crimes, today, hardly anyone has heard of the case. But go back 90 years to 1935 and you would be hard pressed to find anyone who didn’t know the gut-wrenching details of four innocent tourists who ventured into the Land of Enchantment and vanished.

“It’s our number one unsolved mystery in New Mexico. Four people just vanished from the face of the earth and never again be found without a trace,” said Albuquerque author and historian Don Bullis. “There has never been anything like it before. I don’t think there’s been anything like it since. So it was really a big deal.”

They were George Lorius, his wife Laura, Albert Heberer, and his wife Tillie. George owned a coal company in East St. Louis, Illinois. Albert was a barber in Duquoin, Illinois. Early on a Sunday in May, 90 years ago, the two couples packed up George’s ’29 Nash and set out on a leisurely road trip along Route 66 to California.

On May 21, 1935, the couples checked into the Vaughn Hotel, signing their names on the hotel register.

The next morning, they drove to Albuquerque and dropped off postcards at the downtown post office. On a picture postcard of Starvation Peak (New Mexico), Albert Heberer wrote to his brother in Illinois, “…everybody o.k. no trouble of any kind. going to Boulder Dam…” Albert noted his card was written at “11 a.m.” A second postcard written by George Lorius was signed with the initials “G.M.L.” The postcards were postmarked May 22, 1935, 12:30 pm. The four Illinois tourists were never seen or heard from again.

The next morning, six miles south of Socorro, the tourist’s car was found wrecked on the side of the road. It was being driven by a slender young man, about 21, with long hair, a scar on his cheek, and a tattoo. The vehicle was towed to a Socorro service station where it was repaired. Later that day, the Nash was involved in another accident, this time 44 miles south of Socorro. Mrs. Clyde Cole helped the young man free the ’29 Nash from a ditch. Decades later, Mrs. Cole recalled that the driver was nervous and appeared scared.

That night, the driver checked into Room 7 at the Buckler Hotel in El Paso, signing the hotel register “James Sullivan, East St. Louis.” The hotel proprietor said the stranger had “considerable baggage, at least 4 pieces”.

After checking out of the Buckler Hotel early on May 24th, the car thief headed east, leaving behind a string of forged Lorius traveler’s checks in El Paso, Ft. Hancock, Van Horn, Toyah, Pecos, and Midland. That night, he checked into the Tex Hotel in Big Springs, signing the registration card “George Lorius”. Later that evening, he cashed a $20 traveler’s check issued to the Illinois tourist at the Sinclair Service Station in Big Springs.

On May 25, he was on the move again, driving east on the main highway. Along the way, he forged more traveler’s checks at small Texas towns: Colorado, Lorraine, Trant, Abilene, and Cisco. The driver spent the night in Room 802 at the Worth Hotel in Ft. Worth, paying the $3.00 room fee with one of the stolen traveler’s checks.

In the morning, the inexperienced driver collided with another vehicle near the Dallas fairgrounds. He paid $5 for the damage using a forged traveler’s check. Later that morning, he had the Nash washed, greased, and the oil changed at a tire store in Dallas.

Early on the morning of May 27, the stolen sedan was found abandoned near the Marvin Drug Company warehouse in Dallas. The young man who called himself “James Sullivan” disappeared and was never seen again. Despite decades of federal and state investigations, the suspect has never been identified.

Alarm bells went off in Illinois. There had been no word from the two couples since the May 22nd postcards mailed from Albuquerque. On June 6 the East St. Louis Police Department wired authorities in Vaughn, New Mexico: “ABANDON AUTO OF GEORGE LORIUS EAST ST. LOUIS ILLINOIS FOUND IN DALLAS TEXAS PLANNED TO VISIT YOUR TOWN CHECK HOTELS WITH INFORMATION. JAMES MURPHY CHIEF OF POLICE.” Thus began the largest manhunt in New Mexico’s history, personally led by Governor Clyde Tingley.

“They searched literally hundreds of miles of roadways and distances on both sides of suspected roadways. They used the National Guard, and they used military personnel. They even had a cavalry unit that came in on horseback,” law enforcement historian Don Bullis said.

“New Mexico was in shock when these tourists disappeared,” New Mexico’s State Historian Rob Martinez said. “(Governor Tingley) didn’t know what to do. He was afraid of the impact it would have on tourism. So the state was reeling and trying to figure out what happened.”

“Governor Tingley offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to the discovery of the bodies. He was pretty well convinced they had been murdered,” Bullis said.

The newly formed New Mexico State Police launched its first criminal investigation. Officially dubbed “State Police Case #1,” the search for the missing Illinois tourists became front-page news. Every day, sensational details of the investigation were splashed across newspapers and magazines throughout the country. However, investigators had precious few clues: A single bullet found in the stolen Nash. Handwriting from hotel registers and travelers’ checks. Smudged fingerprints. Eyewitness accounts of a nervous, long-haired young man with a tattoo.

A month after the disappearance, a cowboy riding remote rangeland on Albuquerque’s east mesa came upon a grisly discovery. Dumped in an arroyo were the charred remains of personal property belonging to the tourists, including burned clothing and eyeglasses belonging to Laura Lorius.

Early on, the FBI was called in. Search parties scoured remote stretches of the New Mexico outback for clues. Over the course of the investigation, hundreds of suspects were investigated. Amateur detectives from all over the country weighed in with their own theories. Despite a span of 90 years, the remains of George and Laura Lorius and Albert and Tillie Heberer have never been found. In 1938, ‘James Sullivan’ alias ‘John Doe’ was indicted by a Federal Grand Jury in Albuquerque for Interstate Transportation of a Stolen Vehicle. The arrest warrant was never served.

The last lead in the missing tourist’s case dried up decades ago. Today, 90 years later, State Police Case #1 remains unsolved. At the Department of Public Safety in Santa Fe, thousands of pages from the case file have been digitized. However, State Police officials have been unable to locate boxes of original documents or evidence collected in the case.

“(Laura Lorius) was murdered at 54, right beside her husband and her two closest friends. Her life stolen. They were on a vacation and they had no idea that this would happen to them,” said Laura Lorius’ great-grandniece of Amy Ashcraft. “It was just devastating to lose them.”

“Maybe the four of them went to South America and lived happily ever after for the rest of their lives? We don’t know, but it’ll always be with us. It’s always a part of New Mexico history,” Don Bullis said.

“I don’t know that we’ll ever find their bodies,” State Historian Rob Martinez said. “I do know this as a historian. Wherever people have gone, they leave a footprint. They leave a mark. So there’s always the hope that there’s something out there that will tell us what happened to them,” Martinez said.

“I want to find them. We would like to pay our family respects. May you now and forevermore rest in peace,” said Amy Ashcraft.

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