Albuquerque police won't say how Ron Erwin wound up on their radar

Whether Joplin businessman Ron Erwin is a suspect in the murders of 11 women in the West Mesa area of Albuquerque is anyone's guess. Since search warrants were executed in August at properties owned by Erwin, the police have mostly kept mum not only about Erwin's status in the investigation, but also how the owner of Fox Farm Whole Food and former owner of Eccentrix came to their attention in the first place. From today's Albuquerque Journal:

The chief declined to say whether the pictures came from a U-Haul full of photographs, business and financial records and forensic evidence collected during the summer in Joplin, Mo.

       Those items were seized in August when APD detectives and FBI agents, acting on a tip, served search warrants on the Erwin Photo Studio and at least two residential properties owned by Ron Erwin in the Joplin area.

       Schultz has said that authorities have been able to establish that Erwin had visited Albuquerque around the time of the State Fair during the years some of the women disappeared. That time of year is significant because most of the victims were on a list of missing women who had struggled with substance abuse and led a shadowy, transient lifestyle that included prostitution. With the State Fair often comes an increase in prostitution.

       The chief has stopped short of calling Erwin a suspect in the case, and Schultz has declined to discuss further specifics of how Erwin wound up on law enforcement's radar.

       Erwin did not return telephone calls Thursday.