The New Mexico State Police investigated a fatal crash on Interstate 40 around mile-marker 56, between Gallup and Grants Sept. 16 at about 5:30 pm.

The initial investigation indicated a 2013 Ford was traveling east on I-40. The rear passenger tire blew out on the vehicle causing it to enter the dirt embankment where it began to roll.

The female passenger, Michelle M. Arnold, 51, of Grants, sustained fatal injuries, and was pronounced deceased on scene by the Office of the Medical Investigator.

The male driver, who will not be identified, was 59, and also from Grants. He was airlifted from the scene with unknown injuries.

Alcohol does not appear to be a contributing factor in the...

Three unrelated deaths include one homicide

The Gallup Police Department is investigating three deaths that occurred this past week.

The first occurred Sept. 14 and involved a woman who was hit by a train just north of the 2500 block of East U.S. Highway 66.

GPD Capt. Marinda Spencer said police have obtained a tentative identification of the woman, but on Sept. 20, they were still awaiting confirmation from the state Office of the Medical Investigator in Albuquerque.

The body was found on the embankment just south of the train tracks; the Native American woman apparently died after being struck by a train. There were no reports of drug use and police are still trying to determine...

TIGHT LIPPED

9/9, Ya-ta-hey

The most the McKinley County Sheriff’s Office could say about what happened to a man on Sept. 9 is that he was injured. How and by whom is still a mystery, as the victim wouldn’t say.

He was found walking along U.S. Highway 491, just south of Yah-ta-hey, at about 2:30 am by MCSO Deputy Jasmine Jaramillo, who noticed his face was covered with lacerations.

When Jaramillo asked what happened, the victim said he came to on the highway after he was beaten by several people he did not know. He refused to say anything more, so Jaramillo called for an ambulance.

Later that day, she called the Gallup Indian Medical Center to do a follow-up interview...

 

Suspect lures women into dark vehicle

The McKinley County Sheriff’s Office is looking for a man responsible for two McKinley County rapes, one in 2012 and the other in March of this year.

The 2012 incident occurred on Nov. 11. The victim, a 39-year-old Gallup woman, said she was with friends at the American Bar in Gallup. She said she left the bar at about  about 10:30 pm and began walking home.

She had only gone a couple blocks when a man in a maroon PT Cruiser reportedly pulled up alongside her and offered her a ride home. Although she did not know the man, she said she accepted the offer.

But instead of driving her home, the man went on State Highway 602 and then drove south...