Armando Salazar, a 49-year-old Hispanic man from Albuquerque, New Mexico, was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head on the morning of March 24, 2024. His body was discovered on a secluded road near the mesa in the area of 98th and 102nd Streets NW shortly after 7 a.m.

Video surveillance near the scene captured Salazar’s red 2009 Lincoln MKS before his body was found. That footage helped investigators trace his vehicle and phone to an apartment complex at 1200 Dickerson Dr. SE. On April 2, 2024, Albuquerque Police executed a search warrant at that apartment; six people were detained and officers recovered bloody clothes, phones, a gun, and other items believed linked to Salazar and his stolen car.

Following the search, 28-year-old Andrew Chavez was arrested and charged with an open count of murder and booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center. Two others at the apartment, Francisco Tafoya and Gracy Tenorio, were arrested on outstanding felony warrants; their roles in the homicide were not specified. If anyone has information about Salazar, his movements that night, or the red 2009 Lincoln MKS, please share what is known.