Nathan Anthony Vigil, 31, of Española, New Mexico, was last seen around 11:30 a.m. and was reported missing in early July 2021. A Missing Person Advisory circulated through local outlets and social posts as friends and relatives sought word of his whereabouts before his obituary later listed July 12, 2021 as the date of his death.

Investigators say the case centered on an encounter inside an Española home that escalated into a shooting. A 58-year-old Santa Cruz man, Randy Patrick Lujan Sr., told detectives the confrontation reached the point where it was him or Vigil. Authorities allege Lujan Sr. later returned to the scene with his son, Randy Lujan Jr., and that Vigil’s body was taken to a ravine off County Road 162 near Abiquiú while other items were disposed of in a dumpster behind the Regal Inn in Las Vegas, New Mexico.

Police booked Lujan Sr. into the Rio Arriba County jail on charges including first-degree murder and tampering with evidence; the case then proceeded through the courts. Does anyone have information about Vigil’s last known movements in Española or the people he was with in late June and early July 2021?