'All we need are answers': Families come to ABQ looking for info on missing loved ones

Dec. 4—Native American families came to Albuquerque Sunday looking for information about their missing loved ones.

Inside the Embassy Suites lobby were posters with pictures of people like 42-year-old Orlando King and 31-year-old Melanie Marie James who have both been missing for over a year.

King was described by his family as a funny man who enjoys drinking coffee.

"I miss him," Gloria Castillo, King's mother, said as she wiped tears from her eyes.

King was last seen in Torreon, a community in Torrance County, on Christmas a year ago, but the family is still trying to figure out what happened.

"It's a big challenge for us right now and all we need are answers," King's brother Anderson Castillo said.

Like the King family, Lela Mailman, a Navajo woman from Farmington, is looking for a glimmer of hope to help find her daughter Melanie Marie James who has been missing since April 20, 2014.

Mailman said her daughter loves animals and dreams of becoming a veterinarian.

Mailman was working at a Goodwill in Farmington when she spoke to James just before James went to enroll at San Juan College.

"I told her to be back at 5," Mailman said. "She never came back."

'We want help'

The Castillos and Mailman tried to get some answers at Sunday's second annual Missing in New Mexico Day, which was hosted by the New Mexico Indian Affairs Department in collaboration with the Department of Public Safety.

Mailman did not make the 3-plus hour drive from Farmington by herself. Instead, she brought her friend Muzzy Denetso.

"I couldn't drive," Mailman said because she would have been thinking too much about her daughter, adding that she was hopeful to get some updates and "find any kind of hope."

Missing in New Mexico Day was established through legislation signed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham last year to bring together law enforcement, forensic, medical, and social service partners to provide resources for families, friends and loved ones of missing and murdered Indigenous people.

The event allows people to meet with law enforcement and other agencies in a "more approachable" environment, said N.M. Department of Public Safety spokesman Herman Lovato.

Sunday's event happened days after the governor created an advisory council that will be charged with implementing a state plan for responding to cases of missing or slain Native Americans.

The council formed after a state task force designed to find solutions to address missing and murdered Indigenous people was dissolved.

"Bringing more law enforcement to the table will help address a major crux of this issue: a lack of coordination among federal, tribal, state and local entities," Lujan Grisham said in a statement. "The work of this group will help bring missing Native people home, provide closure to families and communities, and prevent other families from experiencing these tragedies."

Pojoaque Pueblo Gov. Jenelle Roybal and Picuris Pueblo Gov. Craig Quanchello will lead the council. The two are in the final stages of selecting the other council members.

"I'm glad to see something like this is finally happening," said Rebecca Touchin, tribal liaison and constituent services representative for Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-NM.

'We have a right to be safe'

Time is of the essence for people like Mailman and the Castillos.

"It's a big old weight on my mom. It's a big old weight on me," Anderson Castillo said. "So we need help."

Yolanda Azua, Navajo Nation Office of the President administrative assistant, said she was listening to everyone's concerns.

"With Orlando's family, we do see a need to get proper tools to all these criminal investigators," she said, adding that President Buu Nygren understands people may be having a hard time getting a status update on a case, but that his office has an "open-door policy."

In the meantime, the Castillos and Mailman are using their respective faiths for support as they continue to wait for answers.

Mailman said praying puts her at peace and "helps me deal with the situation," adding that "I pretty much rely on my faith in God."

The uncertainty over King's disappearance continues to be hard on the Castillo family, but prayers, Anderson Castillo said, are helping them get through a tough time.