On October 26, 2020 a man hunting alone outside of Artesia, AZ discovered the body of a teenage girl in a “float box” meant to deliver water to livestock on a ranch. The girls’ partially submerged body was dressed in a “witch’s gown” which looks more like a grim reaper or “Ghostface” costume from Scream. The desolate area she was found in is extremely rural. It is miles of empty desert (here’s the location on Google Maps). The nearest city is Tucson, is 118 miles away. The location is even 15 minutes away from a passing highway.
The girl was nicknamed “Artesia Doe” after the town nearest where she was found. Artesia Doe was 5’1 and was likely 13-17 when she died, though she may have been as old as 22. She had light brown hair. In addition to the witch’s robes she also had with her a black hooded sweatshirt with skulls on it.
Artesia Doe was determined to be the victim of a homicide. Her body was wrapped in a tarp before being placed in the float tank. Her cause of death has not been released.
One question is that because the girl’s body was found in such a rural place it’s strange that the body was in a float tank, and not hidden in the brush where it is unlikely it would ever be found. Also, how would a teen girl even go missing from a small town without anyone noticing?
The biggest mystery is why this girl was wearing the witch’s robes. Did the killer dress her up in this outfit, or was she already dressed that way? Was it part of a Satanic ritual killing? Was it a Halloween costume? It was a few days before Halloween when the girl’s body was found, but by all accounts she could have been there awhile. And it’s not as if it’s not weird to be in the middle of nowhere in what looks like a grim reaper costume just because it’s around Halloween. If say, she was a local girl that overdosed at a Halloween party and her friends got scared and dumped her body, there should still be a missing persons report for a missing local child.
Given the lukewarm comments from the local sheriff a year ago, it’s not surprising no updates have been made in this case: “We will figure it out… We’ll keep plugging away at it until we resolve it… Somebody wrapped it up in some stuff and put it where they put it.” (It’s the sheriff calling a teen girl “it” for me).
Those comments may be because the girl could be a runaway (and hence the sheriff isn’t invested in solving her murder). Somewhat near this area is a mineral hot spring where nomadic and unhoused people congregate called Tanque hot springs. That location is about 40 minutes from where Artesia’s body was found.
This case should be closed. There are not that many people in Graham County where the body was found. There are especially not that many missing teenage girls. The girl and her clothing should be easily recognizable.
What happened to Artesia Doe? And why has no one come forward to even identify her as a missing child?
