The search

On November 7, 1988, police dropped by the rooming house to check on tenant Bert Montoya,
 last seen in August. Briefly-satisfied with Puente's explanation - that Montoya had gone home
to Mexico - officers returned with shovels five days later, after Peggy Nickerson reported one
of her clients as missing. 

The first corpse was unearthed November 11, with two more recovered the following day.
Puente disappeared that afternoon, before she could be taken into custody, and officers
kept digging in her absence. By November 14, police had seven bodies in hand.