Police investigate psychic's lead in search for missing woman

By PATRICK MALONE
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

Police joined the search on Thursday for a missing Pueblo woman in an area northeast of the city, where a psychic believes her body is hidden.

Officers on all-terrain vehicles and in an airplane joined the family of 29-year-old Jessica Ortiz to comb the Baculite Mesa, where a psychic consulted by Ortiz's family has said her body can be found.

Pueblo Deputy Police Chief John Ercul said police checked the area from the ground and the air on Thursday, but did not find Ortiz.

Ortiz has been missing since April 12, when she was seen in the company of three men, including her boyfriend, at Classic Q's, 1715 S. Prairie Ave. Witnesses told police Ortiz argued with her boyfriend at the bar that night.

On Thursday, police arrested Ortiz's boyfriend, Wade Dione Albrow, 37, on an unrelated rape charge. He is accused of drugging and raping a woman, according to an arrest affidavit.

Ercul said police have interviewed Albrow about Ortiz's disappearance. Ercul stopped short of identifying Albrow as a person of interest in Ortiz's disappearance.

"Until she is located, it's hard to say whether any crime has been committed," Ercul said.

Albrow remained in jail late Thursday with bail set at $500,000.

Uncharacteristically, Ortiz has not contacted relatives since the night she was seen arguing with Albrow in the bar. Since Ortiz's disappearance there has been no activity on her state-issued Quest card, further adding to her family's concerns that she has met with foul play.

Ortiz's relatives recently consulted a psychic who directed them to search the Baculite Mesa for their missing loved one.

Ercul said police did not object to investigating the lead provided by the psychic.

“Our obligation is to take whatever information we have, obviously weighing the credibility of it, and investigate,” Ercul said. “We did not dismiss that information out of hand just because it came from a psychic.”

Ercul said new leads in Ortiz's disappearance have been few. 0 Police hoped to interview the psychic who was consulted by Ortiz's family, but the psychic is reluctant to deal with police.
Ercul said if police could narrow the search area to a more specific site, outside agencies, such as NecroSearch, which specializes in locating clandestine graves, may be able to help find Ortiz, in the event that she is deceased.

In the months since Ortiz's disappearance her family has learned that she has advanced cervical cancer and is in need of treatment.

Police said Ortiz is known to hang out in the Bessemer neighborhood on Pueblo's South Side.

Anyone with information about Ortiz can report it anonymously to Crime Stoppers, 542-7867.