Roswell Daily Record
Police find body in shallow grave THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 122, No. 304 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
The Roswell Police Department found the body of a man in a shallow grave located in the backyard of a vacant residence in the 200 block of East 12th Avenue. The body was described as badly decomposed. Family members of a 19-yearold man who had been reported missing to the RPD early in October arrived at the location after police had vacated the scene. The family is convinced that the victim was their family member. The family had recently moved to Roswell from Texas. One woman said: “I want to know who did this to my brother and why. Last night, they (the police) had
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December 20, 2013
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us at the police station questioning us for hours and asking if he had any known enemies.” The mother wept and showed pictures of her son as she asked why this had happened. The family reported that the young man, a father with a 4-month-old baby at the time of his disappearance, had gone to a job interview on Oct. 8 and never returned. After the police left, the family scoured the scene locating further evidence, including insurance papers and clothes the youth wore. The mother displayed shirts she found in one of the vacant houses, saying she had washed them for her son in preparation for the job interview. Each wanted to know
why the police had not found him sooner. Detectives came to pick up the additional evidence from the bereft family. Later, family members found the child car seat that the young man had kept in his vehicle for his baby. In an of ficial release, RPD reported that no positive identification had been made yet and would not be made until it was able to compare the missing man’s dental records with those of the victim. The police are seeking the public’s assistance in obtaining additional information about this incident. Detectives urge anyone who may have information to contact the department (624-6770), or Crime Stoppers (1-888-594-8477).
FRIDAY
Jessica Palmer Photo
Council extends zoning options to East Second St.
The pink flags and orange tape mark the spot where the police found a badly decomposed body of a young man near the railroad tracks on 12th Steet.
TESS TOWNSEND RECORD STAFF WRITER
Mark Wilson Photo
Santa Claus has his beard pulled while visiting Del Norte Elementary after being delivered to the school via a TriState CareFlght helicopter, Thursday morning.
Board votes against an agreement Eddy County JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
The Chaves County Commission voted against a mutual assistance agreement between Eddy and Chaves counties, on Thursday. Commissioner Kim Chesser noted that law enforcement agencies of the two counties often aided each other. He wondered if it was necessary to have a for mal written agreement between the counties. Commissioner Kyle “Smiley” Wooton asked
Sheriff Rob Coon if all law enforcement agencies across the state took an oath to assist other agencies. Wooton quipped: “Does that not mean anything to Eddy County?” Coon affirmed that the oaths were unifor m and the training was the same as that taught by the New Mexico State Law Enforcement Academy in Santa Fe. Chesser suggested the county write a letter telling the Eddy County Commis-
City Council voted unanimously at a special meeting Thursday to extend special zoning options to property owners on East Second Street. Amendments to Planning and Zoning Ordinance 1002 also included the removal of language pertaining to marijuana distributors so as to prevent the city from being responsible for regulation of marijuana related businesses. The omission does not bar distributors or change the per mit process for them. Councilor Steve Henderson said the amendments relating to Second Street could be described as a
“cleaning up” of the ordinance. He said the goal is to promote economic development. “The idea is to mirror what we did on West Second Street,” he said. West Second Street falls under the C-4 Commercial Business District, known before the amendments passed as the C-4 Westside District. C-4 regulations allow for buildings to take up a greater amount of lot space, with only 5 feet of space required behind the rear of a building and the property line. The minimum requirement in the C-2 district on East Second Street is 35 feet. Property owners in the
DFD embraces season, helps families JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
The Dexter Fire Department got into the spirit of the season, Thursday, by sponsoring children to go to Walmart to pick out Christmas presents. Fire Chief Justin Powell has a special connection to Santa, who took the children in one of the department’s SUVs. The fire department worked in conjunction with the Dexter Independent School District, who suggested a number of low-income families. Pow-
See ZONING, Page A3
ell said it was a difficult decision since he felt all the families were deserving. However, the DFD chose one little girl who said Santa Claus had skipped her family completely the previous year. “We picked the most needy. There were four children in one family and two in the second,” Powell said. One family with children in high school will receive gifts, but Powell said the older children did See DFD, Page A3
Mark Wilson Photo
The Dexter Fire Department played Santa Thursday evening, taking, from left to right, Pedro Salcido, his sister Raina, and Katelyn Johnson Christmas shopping at WalMart, transporting the children in first responder vehicles from their homes in Midway to Roswell for the spree.
Drop in SNAP benefits sends local food banks into overdrive See BOARD, Page A3
TESS TOWNSEND RECORD STAFF WRITER
Tess Townsend Photo
Carl Harrison, driver and warehouse worker for Salvation Army in Roswell, packs a basket of emergency food for a family of four at the Salvation Army Food Bank, Tuesday.
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TODAY’S FORECAST
Clients were queuing up for shopping carts of emergency food at the Salvation Army Food Bank on South East Main Street early Tuesday afternoon. “Gotta do what you gotta do to make it as a mom,” said Evon, 33, of Roswell, as she waited for her cart. The 2009 Recovery Act’s stimulus funding for federal Supplemental Nutrition • CAROLYN LOVELESS SCHLICHER • MARION K. “CISSY” CAVIN • CHRISTOPHER ERIC MIRELES SR.
Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly referred to as food stamps, expired Nov. 1. The ensuing decrease in SNAP assistance — a total drop of $43 million per month in New Mexico, according to the state Human Services Department — has put local food pantries in the position of making up the difference for aid recipients. In Chaves County, which is home to 15,482 SNAP
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE A8
recipients according to HSD, food banks Roadrunner Mobile Food Pantry and Salvation Ar my-Roswell report an increase in clients since the temporary boost to SNAP ended. Reduction in benefits varies by family size, with a family of three seeing a deduction of $29 from each monthly check, according to HSD. Salvation Army Business Coordinator Fran Brown said that such a cut has a
CLASSIFIEDS ..........B7 COMICS .................B6 ENTERTAINMENT ...A10 FINANCIAL ..............B5
tangible ef fect on food security in a household. “For some of these families, $40 a month is the last week in the month that they have food,” she said. Evon, who declined to state her last name out of a desire for privacy, said her family of four saw their monthly SNAP check drop from $443 to $386. The for mer nursing assistant, who cannot work See FOOD BANKS, Page A3
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2 HOROSCOPES .......A10 LOTTERIES .............A2 NATION..................A8
OPINION .................A4 SPORTS .................B1 WEATHER ............A10 WORLD ..................A9