MANUELITO, N.M. (AP/AZFamily) — The Federal Railroad Administration is now leading the investigation of last month’s fiery train derailment near the Arizona-New Mexico border.

National Transportation Safety Board officials said Thursday that the FRA will determine the probable cause of the April 26 derailment.

NTSB investigators have examined the track and derailed tank cars and will focus on the performance of the tank cars and emergency response actions.

The derailment of an BNSF Railway freight train forced a 50-mile stretch of Interstate 40 to close and led to two days of precautionary evacuations for 52 Manuelito residents who lived within a two-mile radius of the derailment site.

No injuries were reported, McKinley County officials said.

The train had left Belen, New Mexico, and was headed to Phoenix and was traveling about 53 mph at the time of the derailment, well below the maximum authorized speed of 70 mph near the derailment site, NTSB investigators said.

Of the 35 cars that derailed, six tank cars were carrying non-odorous propane, the NTSB said.

Four of the six tank cars were breached and released their contents, which ignited, investigators said. New Mexico State Police Lt. Phil Vargas said some rail cars caught fire and burned for hours after the derailment.

Initial passersby posted video and photos on social media of crumpled train cars and billowing, black smoke.

A fifth tank car carrying propane — a type of liquefied petroleum gas — was exposed to the flames and released vapor through its pressure relief device, investigators said.

Each derailed tank car was carrying about 30,000 gallons of liquefied petroleum gas, according to investigators.

The derailment also led Amtrak to cancel some passenger travel, including on the route between Los Angeles and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Thursday, the University of New Mexico Board of Regents approved a land acquisition for a full-spectrum reproductive healthcare center, that will include abortion care, in Doña Ana County.  The UNM Board of Regents voted 6-1 to move forward with the purchase of land, according to a news release. Charlene Bencomo, executive director of Bold Futures, […]

Thursday, the University of New Mexico Board of Regents approved a land acquisition for a full-spectrum reproductive healthcare center, that will include abortion care, in Doña Ana County. 

The UNM Board of Regents voted 6-1 to move forward with the purchase of land, according to a news release. Charlene Bencomo, executive director of Bold Futures, told NM Political Report that the goal is to have the reproductive center open to see patients by October 2025.

The project is called the Reproductive Healthcare Success Project. Bencomo said the $10 million allocated by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, which was approved by the 2023 legislature despite an effort to block it by Republicans, is the money UNM is using to acquire the land. That money will also be used to construct the building, she said. 

Becomo said the four organizations collaborating on the creation of the center are Bold Futures, UNM Health Sciences Center, Strong Families and Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains. She said the four groups are still working out who will run the center but she said it is a full partnership among the four.

She said the group is also in discussion with the New Mexico Doula Association. 

Bencomo said the center will provide a full spectrum of reproductive healthcare and that will include both abortion and gender-affirming care. She said due to the center’s location, it will likely attract patients coming from out-of-state and more rural areas of southern New Mexico as well as residents of Las Cruces.

The center is a part of the changing landscape of reproductive care in Las Cruces and New Mexico in general. Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision in 2022 that overturned Roe v. Wade, more abortion clinics have relocated to New Mexico and new clinics have opened in both Albuquerque and in Las Cruces. In addition, Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains expanded its abortion care in the state to include medication abortion in its Farmington clinic and the organization opened a brick-and-mortar clinic in Las Cruces last year.   

Planned Parenthood clinics in New Mexico expand, offering medication abortion care at all locations

Bencomo said the RHSP clinic has been needed in southern New Mexico for a long time. She said the way the center will deliver care will be a holistic approach focused on good outcomes for both patients and providers. 

An example of that is having doula care available for patients in the future clinic. Bencomo said doulas can assist with more than birthing. They can provide assistance in explaining medical information to patients, which frees time for the provider to see another patient but allows the patients to get the information they need about their care.

Doulas can also bridge language barriers, Bencomo said. 

Bencomo said the project has taken time to move forward because the collaborators have involved community members and have been “truly listening.” She said it has been important to involve community members who will be the most impacted by the decisions the group is making. 

Bencomo said the group has not picked a specific location yet but that they are looking for one that will be accessible by public transportation. Security will be considered. 

University of New Mexico OB-GYN Department Chair, Eve Espey said through the release that the department is excited to be a part of the project.

“We are dedicated to reducing health inequities across our state,” she said through the release.

PPRM said through a statement that they are “honored” to also be participating in the project.

“We take our responsibility to steward these funds seriously, knowing that high-levels of transparency and collaboration often result in longer timeframes. We prioritize these values over moving too quickly through this one-of-a-kind community-led endeavor,“ Adrienne Mansanares, president and chief executive officer of PPRM, said through the release.

Marshall Martinez, executive director of Equality New Mexico, told NM Political Report that having a full-spectrum reproductive center in Las Cruces that will include both abortion and gender affirming care is also of importance to the LGBTQ community. In addition to making it possible for individuals who live in southern New Mexico to have access to care that is closer to home, it will make it easier for individuals who live in Texas to access gender affirming care. He said the fact that Texas has banned gender affirming care for minors has sent a chill in the medical community in Texas and that adults now also struggle to find the care they need.

In addition, having gender affirming care in Las Cruces will make it easier for undocumented individuals to receive healthcare because of border checkpoints along the route to Albuquerque.

“A good percentage of asylum seekers from Central and South American countries seek asylum here because their lives are in danger as queer people,” he said. “We have to think about everything we can do to reduce the harm to them.”

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – The KCBD Investigates Team has obtained court documents that provide additional details about the murder and kidnapping case in Clovis, New Mexico.

At about 4:25 p.m. on May 4, law enforcement received a call about bodies found at the Ned Houk Memorial Park in Clovis.

Law enforcement identified the women as 23-year-old Taryn Allen and 23-year-old Samantha Harley Cisneros.

Law enforcement also found Cisneros’ five-year-old daughter in critical condition with a gunshot wound to her head.

The KCBD Investigates Team confirmed she remains in critical condition at a Lubbock hospital, but we’re told she is stable.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: KCBD Investigates: Arrest warrant details suspect’s motive in Clovis kidnapping, double homicide

According to FBI Special Agent Matthew Frye’s affidavit, Allen and Cisneros were found with multiple gunshot wounds. He stated Cisneros had additional injuries to her legs and back that looked like she had been hit and dragged by a vehicle.

While at the scene, law enforcement found a baby bottle and a stroller at the park, but they could not find a baby.

Law enforcement searched Cisneros’ vehicle and found a receipt to a nearby dollar store from earlier in the day.

Officers reviewed the dollar store’s surveillance video and confirmed Cisneros’ 10-month-old daughter, Eleia Maria Torres, was with her mother and big sister that day.

Law enforcement issued an Amber Alert for Torres.

At the scene, officers reported they found 9 mm handgun casings and a sideview mirror from the driver’s side of a maroon colored Honda.

Witnesses told law enforcement they drove by Ned Houk Memorial Park between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. and said they saw a maroon car at the park and it looked like the driver was talking with the women.

Officers collected video surveillance from a McDonald’s near the park which showed a maroon Honda with a Texas license plate in the drive-thru lane around 2:40 p.m.

Officers contacted the owner of the vehicle who said he had rented the car to 26-year-old Alik Isaiah Collins through a car rental website.

The owner of the vehicle worked with law enforcement to use the car’s GPS monitoring system to track Collins.

Prior to the shooting, GPS showed the vehicle had traveled from Houston, where Collins lives, to Clovis, New Mexico.

The data also showed the vehicle at the park entrance at about 3:29 p.m.

Then, at 3:38 p.m., the vehicle left at speeds of up to 96 miles per hour, avoiding major highways as it headed east.

At 10:52 p.m., the vehicle arrived at a home in Abilene, Texas, that is about 270 miles from Clovis.

The vehicle continued to ping at that home through May 5 at 7:43 p.m.

At that point, the owner of the vehicle reported the car as stolen and remotely disabled it while it was still at the Abilene home.

The vehicle’s owner also gave law enforcement Collins’ cell phone number, which they say showed Collins to have been at the park on the day and time of the murders.

On May 5, 2024, and into May 6, 2024, law enforcement officers with the FBI and the Abilene Texas Police Department Narcotics Unit began conducting ground surveillance at the home.

At approximately 1:15 a.m. on May 6, law enforcement observed a black male pushing the maroon Honda out of the garage and into the street.

During the early morning hours of May 6, 2024, while law enforcement was preparing to execute a search warrant at the residence, they observed an Uber driver operating a Cadillac SUV arrive on the street in front of the home.

A black male, later determined to be Collins, exited the residence carrying a baby.

According to the undercover officers, Collins placed the baby on the rear passenger seat of the SUV and got into the front passenger seat.

That is when officers said Collins carjacked the Uber driver at gunpoint, and forced him out of the vehicle.

Then, officers said Collins drove away with the baby still in the car.

The Abilene Police Department reported Collins intentionally rammed into a police vehicle as they attempted to stop him.

Officers pinned the vehicle, forcing it to stop.

They took Collins into custody and recovered baby Torres who was uninjured.

Law enforcement reported finding a Glock handgun loaded with 9 mm ammunition on the floorboard of the vehicle.

The FBI confirmed Collins is not the parent, grandparent, brother, or uncle of this child, and does not have legal custody of the baby.

During this investigation, the FBI reported they had communicated with Collins last year.

The FBI reported Collins had called in September 2023 and said he wanted help finding his daughter.

During this phone call, the FBI reported he made threatening statements so they called in local law enforcement.

The FBI stayed on the phone with Collins until the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office arrived and took Collins in for a mental health evaluation.

The following month, on October 10, 2023, Collins called the FBI again and reported if law enforcement did not assist him with locating his missing five-year-old daughter, he would “start killing people and children.”

Collins stated that at one point he had kidnapped a woman and her son and then sent a picture of the kidnapped individuals to the FBI to pressure law enforcement to assist with locating his daughter.

The FBI reported Collins was intoxicated and could not provide his child’s true name but referred to her as “Rebecca.” He could not provide the child’s mother’s name either.

During these conversations, Collins said he did not have a weapon and did not intend to hurt anyone, but he made the threats to draw attention so law enforcement could help him find his daughter.

A second referral was made to local law enforcement who attempted contact with Collins but was unsuccessful.

A National Instant Criminal Background System alert was put in place to notify law enforcement if Collins attempted to purchase a firearm.

Additionally, Collins was prohibited from purchasing firearms in Texas as a result of his mental health evaluation.

At this time, the KCBD Investigates Team is working to learn how Collins got a gun.

We are also working to learn if there is any connection to Collins and the victims.

A public defender has been assigned to this case.

Loved ones of Allen and Cisneros have set up GoFundMe accounts to help pay for their funeral expenses.

According to Muffley Funeral Home’s website, Cisneros’ family is gathering at The Chapel Thursday, May 16 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Services will take place Friday, May 17 at noon with a burial following at Lawn Haven Memorial Gardens in Clovis.

The website states a visitation for Allen will be held on Saturday, May 18 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at The Chapel located at 1500 Thornton Street in Clovis, New Mexico.

A celebration of life will follow at 6 p.m. at Hillcrest Park located at 1001 Sycamore Street.

Copyright 2024 KCBD. All rights reserved.