Deputy Juan Leo Ortiz, 33, was fatally shot on September 17, 1978, at his ranch in Rociada, New Mexico, near Maestas Canyon. According to accounts, Ortiz was directing his wife to back a truck toward the barn when an unknown shooter fired from about 200 yards away with a .300-caliber rifle. The first bullet struck Ortiz’s arm; a second struck his back and proved fatal within minutes, witnessed by his wife Emily and their sons Philip and Anthony.

The shooting followed a violent confrontation on August 12, 1978, when Ortiz, while patrolling the Santa Fe National Forest, shot and killed an intoxicated man identified as Frank J. Trujillo after Trujillo reportedly aimed a rifle at him. Ortiz was charged with murder in that earlier death but the charge was dismissed by Judge Joe Angel, who accepted Ortiz’s claim of self-defense. After the August incident Ortiz received threats, was chased by vehicles, and took leave while staying with friends and relatives.

Did anyone in the area at that time see the reported yellow truck or the horse trailer, or have information about men who rode out of the woods near the Angostura Trail?