A body of a Native American woman found dead Feb. 9 has been identified.




Spokeswoman Lt. Rosanne Morrissette said Jevita Johnson, 33, of Gallup may be the victim of foul play, but it's too early to call it a homicide at this juncture.




"The Office of the Medical Investigator has not determined the cause of death," she said.




Capt. Marinda Spencer, public information officer with the Gallup Police Department, said a passerby discovered the deceased woman at about 10:50 am. The location of the body was found east of the arroyo near Gallup’s Social Security Building along East Aztec Avenue.




The open-area dead body discovery comes about one week after the body of Darrell...

Deputy laid to rest like a true hero

Amid friends and family from around New Mexico and Arizona, law enforcement officers remembered Christopher Tsosie, 43, a veteran policeman with the McKinley County Sheriff’s Office, who died Jan. 25 in Crownpoint as he was about to start work. He was laid to rest Feb. 1.

The veteran officer’s family mourned alongside his “brother” police officers. They wore their dress blue and grey or brown uniforms trimmed with gold. They gathered together in the Rehoboth Christian School gymnasium to celebrate and honor Tsosie’s life.

There were law enforcement personnel from the Navajo Nation, the New Mexico State Police, the Pueblo of Zuni...

Jeff, Long are no-shows

As next week’s Gallup-McKinley County Board of Education election date nears closer, a candidate forum was held Feb. 1 at the school district’s main office on Boardman Drive. The forum was sponsored by the Gallup Sun, the Greater Gallup Economic Development Corporation and the Gallup-McKinley County Chamber of Commerce.

The event was attended by close to 100 people and was centered upon a 90-minute question-and-answer session for those running for seats in districts 2, 4 and 5.

Improving teacher quality and transparency were two issues that dominated the forum – the first of its kind in recent memory as it relates to school board seats. Candidates Freda...

A Gallup man remained jailed Feb. 2 at the McKinley County Detention Center on a $22,500 bond amount after being arrested by the Gallup Police Department on two outstanding warrants. The arrest ends a months-long search.

An arrest warrant indicates that John Paradise, 26, was taken into custody Jan. 31 on shooting at or from a motor vehicle, criminal damage to property over $1,000 and negligent use of a deadly weapon charges.

“Mr. Paradise was arrested,” Marinda Spencer, public information officer with the GPD, said. He is still in custody.”

Spencer said the GPD and the McKinley County Sheriff’s Office have been searching for Paradise for months. She said GPD believes Paradise...