Stephen Wesley Timmons, a 62-year-old White man, was found dead on the Dragon Fly Trail near Arenas Valley, New Mexico after a planned bike ride on June 26, 2023. His vehicle was located in the trailhead parking lot when concern grew; search teams discovered his body around 3:30 a.m. on June 27. The Office of the Medical Investigator determined he suffered multiple gunshot wounds, and investigators believe the killing occurred between 8:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. while he was riding his turquoise bicycle. He was reported to have been wearing black shorts with a white stripe, a light blue shirt, and a black helmet at the time of the incident.

A major lead came when 29-year-old Joseph William Costello of Fort Bayard was detained on June 30 after a U.S. Forest Service officer witnessed him run a red light on a motorized bicycle. A handgun found on Costello was forensically linked to the casings and projectiles from Timmons’s death, and Costello was charged with an open count of murder and held in the Grant County Detention Center.

If anyone saw Stephen on the Dragon Fly Trail or has information about the events that morning, please come forward.