ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- David Parker Ray boasted that he was responsible for about 40 victims of sexual torture. On Tuesday, FBI agents and police will search the land and caves in southern New Mexico where they think he buried some of them.
Authorities on Monday reopened the unsolved case of a woman missing for 16 years after they received new information connected to Ray. They suspect that 22-year-old Jill Troia, who disappeared in 1995, is among the possible victims buried somewhere in the vast terrain.
Ray wrote detailed accounts of sexual tortures and burials of victims, including one he described as an Asian woman — a description that fits Troia. But authorities have said it's unclear whether the writings were fantasies or actual crimes.
Ray was arrested in 1999 after a naked woman wearing only a dog collar and chain fled his home. She told police Ray had tortured her, and investigators found surgical tools and video cameras inside his white trailer that he called a "toy box."
He was initially charged with 37 counts involving three women, including the one who fled. In 2001, he was convicted of kidnapping and torturing one of the women, and he pleaded guilty to kidnapping and rape charges in another case.
Ray died in prison in 2002. No bodies have ever been found, despite a number of searches. Now authorities will focus on the area around Elephant Butte Reservoir and nearby caves.
Troia was last seen at a restaurant with Ray's daughter, Glenda Jean Ray. Police said the two women had dated.
Police have long believed Ray and his daughter were connected to Troia's disappearance. Glenda Jean Ray pleaded no contest to kidnapping charges in 2001.
Ray's girlfriend at the time of his arrest, Cynthia Lea Hendy, told police that Ray disposed of bodies — both men and women — in ravines and in Elephant Butte Reservoir. She was sentenced in 2000 after she pleaded guilty to accessory and kidnapping charges.
Authorities didn't release any other names of possible victims, but FBI spokesman Frank Fisher said authorities are reinvestigating cases of missing women from the time period.
A new DNA missing persons' database could help identify remains, if any are discovered, he said.
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