Missing man’s vehicle found
TAOS — New Mexico State Police say an abandoned vehicle at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge is registered to an Albuquerque man who was reported missing, but they did not find him during an initial search earlier this month, and extraordinarily low water levels in the river have made a more thorough search of the area impossible.
Vendors at the west end of the bridge in Taos County reported the truck to authorities May 16. State police spokeswoman Lt. Elizabeth Armijo confirmed last week that the gray 2011 Toyota Tacoma belongs to 49-year-old Ignacio Perez Jr.
According to a notice posted on the website of the New Mexico Department of Public Safety, Perez was last seen in Albuquerque on May 10.
The notice describes him as 5-foot-10 and about 200 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.
State police worked with Taos Search and Rescue last week in an attempt to find Perez. Searchers deployed a drone to scan the area around the bridge, but found no sign of the man.
Armijo said the search has been suspended “due to lack of information.”
Perez is the second missing person to be connected to Taos County within two months.
Another abandoned vehicle, a silver 2001 Toyota Avalon belonging to missing California woman Krista Bowman, was found parked outside the Cruz Alta Condominiums on April 26.
Last week’s discovery of Perez’s truck at the Gorge Bridge is reminiscent of the disappearance of Holly White, the former office manager for the Taos Center for the Arts, two years ago.
White’s blue Ford Escape was found at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge parking lot May 6, 2016. Searches for White around the gorge were unsuccessful. More than two years later, she has not been found.
The New Mexico Department of Public Safety asks that anyone with information on Perez’s whereabouts call the agency at 800-4573463.