Human Remains Discovered in New Mexico Desert After Volunteer Tip to Authorities

Authorities in New Mexico have been working to recover human remains and personal belongings from a desert site west of Santa Teresa, a location that volunteer group Battalion Search and Rescue (BSAR) has reported multiple times to the Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office (DASO) without receiving a response. The remains, along with other items, were found by a team from Armadillos Search and Rescue (ASR), a humanitarian group based in San Diego, California, that assists migrants.

On November 17, 2024, ASR volunteers, led by co-founder Cesar Ortigoza, walked three miles into the desert to examine one of the reported sites. Ortigoza confirmed that the remains and personal items found matched what BSAR had documented in September. Among the items found were identification documents, a birth certificate, and clothing, including Adidas pants, which were reported to be worn by Ada Guadalupe Lopez Montoya, a migrant from El Salvador who had been missing since June 2023.

Lopez Montoya’s family had been searching for her since she last communicated with them while crossing the border from Ciudad Juarez to El Paso. Ortigoza and his team reported the discovery to local authorities at around 11 a.m. After waiting for several hours, a deputy from DASO arrived at the scene, informing the volunteers that officers from the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator (OMI) would arrive within an hour and a half. Despite this assurance, it wasn’t until 7 p.m., eight hours after the report was made, that authorities finally arrived to recover the remains.

Ortigoza expressed concern that the remains were left uncollected for so long, adding that if they belong to Lopez Montoya, she may have been in the desert for over a year, awaiting identification. “If the remains belong to her, she has been there almost a year and a half. It’s been a long time for her family to be waiting for her,” Ortigoza said.

In a prior statement to KTSM, Dona Ana County Sheriff Kim Stewart responded to criticisms about the office’s delayed response, explaining that the sheriff’s department does not have the resources to respond promptly to all reports and that it was difficult to act on reports without specific coordinates. Stewart also noted that in cases like this, where there is no clear indication of a crime, the investigation would fall to the OMI.

Now that the remains have been recovered, the OMI will lead the investigation into their identity. Ortigoza is hopeful that if the remains are confirmed to be Lopez Montoya’s, it will bring closure to her grieving family. “I know nobody wants to hear that their family members passed, but if it’s her, I hope she can finally rest in peace,” Ortigoza said. “At least her family will have a place to go and bring flowers.”

KTSM has filed a records request with the OMI to confirm whether the remains belong to Lopez Montoya.

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