Qualla: Las Cruces Bowling Alley Massacre

Las Cruces Bowling Alley Massacre: Introduction

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Procolotor, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Las Cruces Bowl at 1201 East Amador Avenue was preparing for a routine Saturday morning on February 10, 1990. Manager Stephanie Senac was in her office with her 12-year-old daughter Melissia and Melissia's friend Amy Houser, who had come to help with the day care. The cook was in the kitchen. Within minutes, two men with a .22 caliber pistol would turn the bowling alley into a crime scene that has haunted southern New Mexico for more than three decades. Seven people were shot. Five died, including two children under the age of seven. Despite one of the largest manhunts in New Mexico history, despite appearances on Unsolved Mysteries and America's Most Wanted, despite a documentary film and thousands of tips, the killers have never been identified.

Image: Procolotor | CC BY-SA 3.0

Las Cruces Bowling Alley Massacre: A Saturday Morning

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Procolotor, CC BY-SA 3.0. The gunmen entered through an unlocked door while the bowling alley was still closed to the public. One pulled a pistol on cook Ida Holguin in the kitchen and forced her into the manager's office, where Senac, Repass, and Houser were already being held at gunpoint by the second m...

Image: Procolotor | CC BY-SA 3.0

Las Cruces Bowling Alley Massacre: The Girl Who Called 911

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Procolotor, CC BY-SA 3.0. Melissia Repass, 12 years old, had been shot five times. But she was alive, and she could reach the office phone. Her call to 911 brought emergency services within minutes, saving her life along with her mother's and Ida Holguin's. But Steve Teran died at the scene, as did both o...

Image: Procolotor | CC BY-SA 3.0

Las Cruces Bowling Alley Massacre: The Manhunt

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Procolotor, CC BY-SA 3.0. Las Cruces police set up ten roadblocks around the city within an hour of the shooting, screening everyone attempting to leave. The U.S. Customs Service, Army, and Border Patrol joined the search, sweeping the area with planes and helicopters. The Mexican border lay just 45 miles...

Image: Procolotor | CC BY-SA 3.0

Las Cruces Bowling Alley Massacre: Decades of Silence

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Procolotor, CC BY-SA 3.0. The case remains open and under active investigation by the Las Cruces Police Department more than three decades later. In 2016, Steven Teran's brother Anthony spoke to the Las Cruces Sun-News about the case. His words captured the frustration of every family member still waiting...

Image: Procolotor | CC BY-SA 3.0