FBI Raids Home After Torture Allegations

ELEPHANT BUTTE, N.M. —  Dozens of FBI agents, including psychological “profilers” specializing in macabre crimes, converged on a trailer home Tuesday in an apparent murder investigation that began with a case of sexual torture.

The case began to unfold when a woman escaped from the home wearing only a padlocked metal collar attached to a chain. She said she had been kidnapped and tortured by David Ray and Cindy Hendy.

Another woman then came forward and said she, too, had been tortured. And a friend of Hendy’s told a TV station that Ray had killed four to six other victims, mutilated the bodies and dumped them in Elephant Butte Lake, 150 miles south of Albuquerque.

Ray, 59, is charged with kidnapping and criminal sexual penetration. Hendy, 39, is charged with kidnapping and accessory to criminal sexual penetration. Both are charged with conspiracy and assault.

Investigators have been searching the dusty half-acre lot around Ray’s trailer for several days. They have expanded their search for victims or witnesses into Arizona, Texas and Mexico and urged anyone else who escaped the couple to come forward.

State Public Safety Secretary Darren White said investigators have collected more than 1,000 pieces of evidence, are pursuing more than 100 leads “throughout the country” and have brought in three FBI profilers, the behavioral specialists depicted in “The Silence of the Lambs.”

“This is a very dark, very disturbing case for everyone involved,” White said. “We believe this case involves more victims, and we won’t rule out the possibility this case involves homicide.”

He said he feared divulging too many details because it would involve “descriptions so vile” other victims might not come forward.

Albert Costales, Ray’s attorney, said his client is not guilty.

“I do not believe any of it is founded on anything more than rumors, sensationalism,” he said.

The woman who escaped wearing the collar told authorities she met Ray and Hendy in Albuquerque, where Ray showed her a badge and told her she was under arrest for prostitution. She said she was sexually tortured and shocked with electricity over three days at their home near the lake before escaping March 22.

John Branaugh, a friend of Hendy’s, told KOB-TV over the weekend: “Ray has put four to six bodies in this lake and others buried in the desert.” Branaugh said Hendy told him about the bodies after a night of drinking. He said he didn’t take it seriously and didn’t report it until the chained woman escaped.

David Kitchen, FBI agent for New Mexico, said Ray hasn’t provided much information. But White said Hendy “has been a bit more cooperative.” He would not elaborate.