RIO COMMUNITIES — Valencia County detectives were called out to investigate the suspicious death of a transient man in Rio Communities this morning.
Valencia County Sheriff’s Office Lt. James Harris said the man was found in a small camping trailer near the river on the west side of N.M. 47, north of the Allsup’s convenience store.
“There are some circumstances that lead us to believe this was a suspicious death, so we are treating this as a homicide,” Harris said. “Detectives do have one individual detained.”
Harris said they do not have a positive identification of the dead man yet, and the cause of death will be determined by an OMI investigation.
“We believe this individual was a transient and squatting on the property in the camping trailer,” he said. “The investigation is in the very preliminary stages.”
(We will update this story when more information is available.)
Julia M. Dendinger began working at the VCNB in 2006. She covers Valencia County government, Belen Consolidated Schools and the village of Bosque Farms. She is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists Rio Grande chapter’s board of directors.
1070
April 18, 2024
