Yolanda Ayala, a 72-year-old grandmother from Las Vegas, Nevada, was found dead in a shallow grave in Amargosa Valley with an apparent close-range gunshot wound to the head. Her body was discovered inside two bins filled with Christmas ornaments; investigators say her death occurred on or around January 1, 2021.

Authorities focused on her grandson, 30-year-old Matthew Ayala, who was living with her. Police reported finding what appeared to be blood on a hand towel, in the kitchen sink, and on a t-shirt in his room. Phone records placed him near U.S. 95 and State Route 373, and neighbors recalled loud noises from the apartment around December 31, 2020, and someone moving a large boxed item on a dolly. A rented U-Haul was used to transport the body to the desert, and a shotgun in the apartment bore Matthew Ayala’s DNA.

Matthew Ayala was arrested in January 2021 and later entered a guilty but mentally ill plea to first-degree murder in February 2022. During sentencing on April 26, 2022, he received life with the possibility of parole after 20 years, restitution of $5,000, and separation from the general prison population until acute mental health needs were addressed. Family members spoke at the hearing, expressing sorrow and anger; Matthew Ayala maintained assertions that others were involved.

If anyone knew Yolanda, her routines, or saw unusual activity at the apartment around the end of December 2020, please share what you remember.