Saturday, April 25, 2009

Search continues for missing woman

Investigation takes new turn, more evidence is gathered

Gerald Garner Jr. El Defensor Chieftain Editor

A shoe found along a Socorro County ditch bank this week sparked an exhaustive search for a Polvadera woman — a search that continues as of Chieftain press time.

Lilly Lopez, 33, was last seen Wednesday, April 15. The Socorro County Sheriff's Department was notified that she was missing Sunday, April 19.

"Apparently Lopez and her boyfriend, Michael Quintana, were at home in Polvadera and both had been drinking," said Chief Deputy Preciliano "Shorty" Vaiza.

Quintana told officials that when he returned, Lopez was nowhere to be found.

"She apparently left to take a walk along the ditch bank and he went into town. When he got home, she wasn't there," Vaiza said of Quintana's statement.

Vaiza said an initial interview with Quintana revealed that the couple had been fighting, and Quintana assumed Lopez had traveled to Albuquerque to stay with family or friends.

According to Quintana, he received a call on Sunday from Lopez' daughter in Albuquerque who wanted to know the whereabouts of her mother, Vaiza said.

"(Quintana said) he went for a walk along the ditch bank in the area where he thought she went," Vaiza said.

That's when Quintana located his girlfriend's shoe.

Quintana informed the sheriff's department of the situation. Deputies contacted the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District and the decision was made to drain the ditches so a search could begin.

"For the next three days, we had deputies scouring the network of ditches from Polvadera south to Socorro," Adjutant to the Sheriff Les Torres said. "They searched in patrol cars and on bicycles."

Vaiza said he rode an estimated 30 miles of bank on Wednesday, April 22, alone.

By Thursday, April 23, investigators exhausted their search of the ditches. A new piece of evidence, however, pointed deputies in another direction. Lopez' other shoe was allegedly found Thursday.

"We're in the process now of talking with Lilly's friends, her family, her co-workers and her significant other, "Vaiza said during an April 24 telephone interview.

Vaiza said his office is treating the situation as a missing persons case.

"We're not treating this as a homicide — it's a missing persons investigation," he said.

Lopez is described as 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weighs 145 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a gray coat, a pink or red shirt, blue jeans and gray hiking shoes.

Anyone with information about Lopez' whereabouts or with information should call Vaiza at 575-835-0941.

ggarner@dchieftain.com

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