Identified! NM - Albuquerque, WhtFem 25-35, UP2926, blonde, in motel room, 5 June 1991 * id'd March 2026 - Rebecca "Becca" Mallekoote (18)*

[Springrain]

I was NOT expecting this one! May Becca RIP at long last. I second the props to Ramapo College.

Interesting that she was in fact a Becca and that the age estimate was so off.

 

[iamshadow21]

I was NOT expecting this one! May Becca RIP at long last. I second the props to Ramapo College.

Interesting that she was in fact a Becca and that the age estimate was so off.

O/T it's amazing to see your icon change, after so long. It's been a great run of Doe identifications lately.

 

[itsdev]

I hope somehow, someway Becca knows that there’s a huge group of caring strangers who thought about her often during all of these years. RIP Becca

 

[Lebowski]

sad that apparently no one bothered to report her missing. I speculate she was not terribly close to her stepfather and half brother, and I'm not seeing any mention of bio mom or any full siblings. I feel sad for her because i infer a lonely life and of course for how it ended.

 

[RobertCatesby]

I hope somehow, someway Becca knows that there’s a huge group of caring strangers who thought about her often during all of these years. RIP Becca

It's insane to think about how much more attention and effort into getting answers was put in by random strangers on the internet over literal decades than her own family. Unfortunately, I think that this honestly isn't that uncommon in a lot of these cases. Grateful Doe comes to find, A lot of similarities there I've already noticed.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/albuquerque-police-identify-woman-found-dead-in-hotel-in-1991/

Finally she has been identified. I was really hoping she would be. Rest in peace, Becca.

 

[ivylambs]

I gasped!! I can’t believe it. We knew her name all along… rest in peace Becca <3

 

[Myrrh]

Very surprised to see her being identified! This year has already been great for Does finally getting their names back.

RIP Becca

 

[kforbes862]

I'm very happy that she is no longer nameless. I'm wondering how Ramapo was able to do genealogy for her when it seemed she had been cremated and there wasn't a way to get a sample.

 

[Alleykins]

This is great news.
RIP Becca.

 

[rose_quartz]

I'm very happy that she is no longer nameless. I'm wondering how Ramapo was able to do genealogy for her when it seemed she had been cremated and there wasn't a way to get a sample.

It appears ABQ PD did manage to take samples of DNA before cremation. Thank goodness!

 

[RyGuy611]

Rest well, Becca. You've earned it.

 

[Triss]

Gone too soon, rest in peace Becca <3

 

[Kitsey]

APD identifies woman after 35 years using investigative genetic genealogy

According to APD, Mallekoote was born in Tacoma, Washington, in 1973, and today would have been her 54th birthday.

www.koat.com

"The FBI and APD were able to work closely together to identify the stepfather in Ventura, California, who confirmed he had last seen Becca in 1991 when she left the Los Angeles area."

So George Martinez's interview was correct, he said Becca seemed to live or at least stay sometimes with her father in Reseda and was around age 18. I'm sad the stepfather seemingly never reported her missing, but I guess since she was 18 he may have assumed she set off on her own.

She was in foster care, so not the most involved parents. I wonder if she had siblings.

 

[moonglow123]

She was in foster care, so not the most involved parents. I wonder if she had siblings.

Yeah. They said she has a half-brother, I guess her bio mom and stepdad's child. I wonder if he ever tried to look for her. Sounds like she had such a tough life, especially for someone that was barely 18.

It's crazy that Ramapo College got her DNA in December 2025 and was able to identify her by January 2026. I wish APD could've sent it out for testing sooner but I am grateful they did, and that Ramapo was able to identify her.

 

[charrb]

It appears ABQ PD did manage to take samples of DNA before cremation. Thank goodness!

i wish more departments had this level of consideration and foresight for doe cases. i really was losing hope for becca til they announced they were doing genealogy because she'd been cremated

 

[summergirl1]

I would guess Eduardo never knew what happened to her?

 

[Grungster]

I would guess Eduardo never knew what happened to her?

I'd rather not speculate on Eddie but here is what we know about him and Becca.

Polaroid Guy dated Becca for a few weeks. They split but remained friends. And that's when Eddie, PG's brother-in-law, started crushing on her and openly admitted it to PG. PG was like "it's okay, I'm not dating her anymore." and I guess Eddie started talking to Becca. She flew out to ABQ to be with him. No idea what happened afterwards. There's a chance he never even realized she was deceased.

 

[sprightly]

I'd rather not speculate on Eddie but here is what we know about him and Becca.

Polaroid Guy dated Becca for a few weeks. They split but remained friends. And that's when Eddie, PG's brother-in-law, started crushing on her and openly admitted it to PG. PG was like "it's okay, I'm not dating her anymore." and I guess Eddie started talking to Becca. She flew out to ABQ to be with him. No idea what happened afterwards. There's a chance he never even realized she was deceased.

Based on "The Butterfly Effect" podcast, Polaroid Guy is George Martinez (of the name on the scale). After they split, Becca started dating Eduardo and flew to Albuquerque from LA to be with him. After they checked into the motel, he told her he had a girlfriend and kids and was not planning to leave them and essentially ended the relationship. That was likely the catalyst for Becca's suicide (although of course there are always lots of factors, along with pure impulse and substance abuse, that play into the decision to end one's life).