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Post by LadyBlue on Jun 5, 2004 21:36:09 GMT -5
Saturday, April 03, 2004 -- At around 2:30 Saturday afternoon, the Dona Ana County Sheriff's Department was called out to investigate a body that was found by hunters in the desert near Chaparral. They say the woman's body was found partially submereged in water wrapped in bedsheets, a comforter and pillows. On Tuesday the Otero County Sheriff's Department filed a missing person report for 47-year-old Linda Diaz from Chaparral. Not only was she missing but also the bedding from her bedroom. Police have yet to posititvely identify the body as Linda Diaz, right now they're waiting for the family to make a positive identification.
"The missing person we are looking for is 47-year-old female and at this time we don't know or made positive identification whether this is the person or not," said Lt. Eddie Medrano of the Otero County Sheriff's Department.
The cause of death is not known. An autopsy is being done, and we're waiting for results from medical examiner. The investigation is in the preliminary stages. Police say they have no suspects.
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Post by LadyBlue on Jun 14, 2004 2:41:47 GMT -5
The body of a missing 20-year-old New Mexico State University nursing student was found early Sunday morning in the desert near Interstate 10, east of Mesquite, N.M.
Las Cruces police Lt. Randy Lara said Angela Castilleja's fully clothed body was found by detectives at about 12:30 a.m. Sunday. She had been missing for a week.
"The search was a result of specific information given to detectives," Lara said.
He said detectives received the information late Saturday, but he would not disclose who gave it to them.
Castilleja's body was badly decomposed and there was no obvious sign of injury, Lara said.
Lara said police are investigating Castilleja's death as suspicious.
"Due to the state of the body, it's going to be difficult to determine what happened to her," he said. "We feel she's been there several days, but we won't be able to tell exactly how long until we do some additional investigating."
Lara said it had not yet been determined whether Castilleja died where her body was found or it was dumped there.
Castilleja's body will be sent to the Office of the Medical Investigator in Albuquerque to determine the cause of death.
The body was found between two bushes in the desert about 15 miles south of Las Cruces. A trail of prints in the sand leads from the scene to a set of tire prints, but Lara wouldn't speculate as to what made those prints or if they are related to the case.
Castilleja was reported missing last week after she failed to return from a June 5 trip to Juárez to celebrate her 20th birthday with fellow NMSU student Mario Jimenez. She told family members she would be back the next morning.
Jimenez told police he drove Castilleja to her apartment the morning of June 6 and watched her walk to the front door, said Castilleja's mother, Linda Garcia.
Lara said Jimenez told police his truck broke down as he was returning to his residence after dropping off Castilleja. Jimenez told police an Indian couple in a yellow Ford pickup helped him after his truck broke down.
Police said they are looking for those two people in an effort to verify the information provided by Jimenez.
Castilleja's family drove from Clayton, N.M., to Las Cruces last weekend to celebrate her birthday and planned for her and her 1-year-old son to return to Clayton to spend the summer.
Police are not naming any suspects in Castilleja's death.
"We have not identified a suspect; we're still interviewing people," Lara said. "There are people we consider people of interest."
Jimenez remains a person of interest and has cooperated with detectives, Lara said.
Castilleja's family said they are waiting for an autopsy report. They declined an interview with the Las Cruces Sun-News on Sunday.
Lara said he is not aware of any connection between Castilleja's death and the death of Kathryn "Katie" Sepich, an NMSU graduate student whose body was found last September at the old Las Cruces dump east of the city. She had been strangled. Her killing has not been solved.
This was the third young female NMSU student's body to be found in the Las Cruces-area desert in a little more than six years.
Besides Castilleja and Sepich, freshman Carly Martinez of El Paso disappeared from the campus in January 1998. Her body was found two months later in the Las Cruces desert, and two men were convicted of killing her.
Lara said he still thinks the community in general is not a dangerous place.
"I think it's a good reasonable thing (for parents) to send their kids to New Mexico State University," Lara said. "Sometimes, it's hard to tell why these things happen, but I still think this community is safe."
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Post by LadyBlue on Jul 20, 2004 11:01:53 GMT -5
Authorities have identified the body of a woman found in the back seat of her sport-utility vehicle that was parked at an Albuquerque apartment complex.
Albuquerque police officer Trish Ahrensfield says no foul play was involved in the death of Kimberly Gutierrez, but she says the cause of death still isn’t known.
Ahrensfield says there were no stab or gunshot wounds. She says Gutierrez was reported missing in June.
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Post by LadyBlue on Nov 11, 2004 13:55:58 GMT -5
A body found by happenstance during a search and rescue canine training exercise Sunday appears to be a Los Alamos man who went missing July 3, according to authorities.
Zeke Chase, 23, was last seen in the Cochiti Mesa area on July 3. His pickup truck was found nine days later parked on Forest Road 268 between Del Norte and Cochiti canyons. The 6-foot-1, 155-pound Chase was known to frequent the area to camp and hike.
"Based on the evidence at the scene, the skeletal remains, clothing and backpack reported when he was went missing, we strongly believe it is Zeke Chase," said Lt. Jimmy Glas, state police public information officer in a telephone interview from Santa Fe Tuesday. "Search and rescue volunteers were conducting routine canine training when the discovery was made Sunday morning. Investigators processed the scene yesterday (Monday) and the body has been transported to the medical examiner's office."
Chase's mother Sarah Chase spoke of her son in a telephone interview this morning. "My husband Bill and I were there Monday and we know that it was Zeke," she said. "We were so lucky to have him and to share his life for as long as we did.
"We felt Zeke was very courageous in dealing with his disease and to know he is at peace is a comfort to our family," Sarah said.
Sarah and Bill praised the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) for giving their family so much support during an extremely difficult period. She also praised the Search and Rescue teams for their kindness and diligence over these many months.
The Chases other children have all come to Los Alamos to be with them, Sarah said.
Incident Commander Peter Dickson headed up the original search for Chase in July and said that like Sarah, he has no doubt the body is Chase.
"I know for official reasons they have to perform an autopsy, but he had ID on him and his parents were out at the scene and we have no doubt," Dickson said in an interview this morning. Dickson said the search and rescue team notified the Albuquerque State Police in District five.
"District 5 called me Sunday because they needed an incident commander," Dickson said. "We opened the incident number back up and I went up there to the scene. The following day the team completed their work. I know this is hard for the family but to be able to close this out has got to be better than not knowing."
Dickson said the team had gone back to that area four or five times attempting to find Chase.
"The Mountain Canine Corps did an absolutely superb job," Dickson said.
Glas said the body was found near Forest Road 36 at the intersection of Forest Road 289, about two miles from where Chase's pickup was found July 14.
The cause of death was not immediately apparent, Glas said, but there was no reason to believe that fowl play was a factor.
"The body has been there for an extended period of time," Glas said. "We always try to be very meticulous and cautious but everything indicates that the body is his. We will rely on autopsy results to determine the exact identity of the body and the manner of death."
"Zeke was a very special person - brilliant in many ways," Sarah said. "He was unique. We are finding out that he knew so many people in Los Alamos that we have no idea how he knew them. We will miss Zeke so very much."
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Post by LadyBlue on Nov 11, 2004 14:07:16 GMT -5
Amanda Volkerding, the subject of an Amber Alert released Friday by Fairfield police has been recovered. The alert was canceled Friday night after police said they had determined she had not been taken against her will and the case was listed as endangered missing.
In connection to her dissapearnance, A Louisville man was charged yesterday with promoting prostitution and using a minor in a sexual performance.
Police received a tip about 3 p.m. that the girl, from Fairfield, near Cincinnati, might be in the Louisville area.
Shortly afterward, the Crimes Against Children Unit arrested Daniel Cain, 31, of the 3100 block of Chinquapin Lane, at the InTown Suites Hotel.
The girl was also at the hotel, but no information on the teen's condition is available from Police or the FBI, the lead agency investigating the case.
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Post by LadyBlue on Feb 11, 2005 8:49:12 GMT -5
Thursday, February 10, 2005 — 51-year-old Lupe Silva has been missing since January 30th when investigators found her burned out van near Lovington, New Mexico. Silva's family says she was in Lovington with her boyfriend to visit his family. They say her boyfriend was out late on January 29th and Silva went looking for him. That's when her van went off the road at the intersection of Reed Road and McDonald Road north of Lovington and hit a fence post.
Police think her engine was too hot and caught some tumble weeds on fire and burned the rest of the van. There were footprints around the area, but after searching with horses, ATV's and airplanes, police could not find Silva.
Wednesday morning a rancher found the body fitting Silva's description while checking his cattle. Investigators say the body was a mile and a half from the van. State Police say they'll wait for autopsy results to determine a cause of death and to make a positive identification.
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Post by LadyBlue on Jun 2, 2005 13:20:10 GMT -5
The body of a Santa Fe teenager whose car crashed into the Pecos River has been found. New Mexico State Police say the body of Jessica Hines was found in the Pecos River north of the town of Pecos.
Investigators believe Hines accidentally drove her car into the Pecos River while returning from a camping trip two weeks ago. The severely damaged car was found a couple days later.
Around 5 p.m. on Sunday a property owner spotted the body in the river.
Officers had called-off the search for Hines earlier last week because of high water levels and large, fast moving debris.
As of Sunday evening, a State Police dive team was at the scene and an investigation was underway.
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