New Mexico
Only one person still ‘unaccounted for’ following destructive Ruidoso wildfires • Source New Mexico
As Jesus Cadena sat on his front porch in Ruidoso, smoking cigarettes and watching the helicopters and airplanes drop water over the South Fork Fire, he had no way of knowing that according to New Mexico State Police he was officially unaccounted for in a disaster.
Cadena and his family are one of thousands who reunited during the hours after the South Fork and Salt fires tore through neighborhoods and forest in southeastern New Mexico. A list of unaccounted people that has grown and shrunk since the fires ignited on June 17 now sits at one, officials with the Village of Ruidoso said on Wednesday.
Two people died in the fire.
Yesterday, officials reported that a list of 89 people it was aware of were “unaccounted for” were a priority to contact after the fires and floods.
Michael Scales, a Lincoln County emergency management specialist, told Source New Mexico that all people unaccounted for on the list given to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department were located by midday Wednesday.
Ruidoso police are still looking for the final person on the list.
Cadena’s reunite after evacuation orders separated family
Thousands of Ruidoso-area residents had to evacuate their homes and businesses last week, fleeing from the treacherous South Fork and Salt fires which continue to smolder.
But for some people, heartbreak was the first emotion they experienced as loved ones chose to stay behind.
Cyndi Cadena was one evacuee who had to leave an elderly parent behind in Ruidoso.
“I talked to my mom and dad and my mom tried to persuade my dad and he still didn’t want to leave,” she said.
Cadena takes care of her octogenarian parents in their Ruidoso home near the Walmart Supercenter. Isabel and Jesus Cadena built the cabin in the late 1970s and have lived in the Sacramento Mountain community since.
When the fire started last Monday, Cyndi Cadena said she talked with her brother who works for Mescalero Apache Telecom. As he saw the fires worsen, he told his family they needed to get out of the area.
Cyndi Cadena said the family was initially told to go to the senior center in Ruidoso Downs, but then they were directed farther away to Roswell.
“We were finding out that Roswell was getting full and there’s no place to stay,” she said.
Members of the family were able to eventually find space in Roswell, but Cyndi and her parents stayed, trying to help other elderly community members navigate the chaos at the senior center.
“I was trying to help, you know, because everyone needed help,” Cyndi said.
The three Cadenas remained in the area into the early Tuesday morning hours.
Jesus Cadena did not want to leave. Several hours later he was running low on oxygen.
Cyndi Cadena said as the smoke settled in the sky, the chaos seemed to calm a bit, so she took her parents back to their home and got her father hooked up to his home ventilator. This gave her a chance to grab several more things from the house, let her parents rest and feed them.
Around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, she said she was ready to take them all down the mountain through Hondo, to Roswell and eventually safety. After trying to persuade her father again, she closed the windows, sealed up the house and left with her mother.
“I said ‘let’s go mom, we gotta go’ and I hugged my dad and I just went out the door and prayed,” she said through tears.
Her brother-in-law stayed behind to take care of the older Cadena and look in on other elderly residents who did not want to leave Ruidoso.
The Cadena women traveled over and around northern Ruidoso and made their way to Alamogordo where they stayed with family until Thursday. Because internet and cellular service was down back home, they had no way of communicating with the family that stayed.
She called hotlines dedicated to reuniting people during the fire, asking if anyone knew if her father was still in Ruidoso. Her calls placed Jesus Cadena on a list of officially unaccounted for people that emergency responders tracked during fires and floods.
Cyndi Cadena also called New Mexico State Police for a welfare check, which revealed that her father and brother-in-law were still at the family house.
The family’s concerns were calmed last Thursday during a Facetime call with Jesus Cardena.
“My mom got to see him so they were sentimental and everything,” Cyndi Cadena said about her parents talking through the phone.
She said it gave her mother some comfort to be able to at least see her husband, who still refused to leave Ruidoso because he wanted to wait for the rain that followed.
The family remained separated until Sunday evening, June 23 when evacuation orders were lifted and residents were able to return to their homes and assess the damage.
Cadena told Source New Mexico via text message that they were able to go to Ruidoso Downs where they all reunited.
The family home was untouched, but many other community members were not so lucky.
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The New Mexico Department of Justice released a report on its investigation into alleged cases of sexual assault and hazing within the New Mexico State University men’s basketball program during the 2022-23 season.
The NMDOJ issued a report accusing the NMSU men’s basketball program of failing to protect student-athletes and having a “pervasive culture of misconduct,” leading to the cancellation of the season.
The report stems from an investigation into alleged hazing and sexual assault incidents within the NMSU men’s basketball program back then, which led to the cancellation of the season.
In April 2023, two players sued the school, players and coaches, accusing multiple players of sexually assaulting them multiple times over several months – and accusing the coaches of not stepping in. In November 2023, a grand jury indicted Deshawndre Washington, Kim Aiken Jr., and Doctor Bradley on criminal charges.
Bradley and Aiken each took a plea deal. Aiken agreed to testify against Washington as a part of his deal.
The NMDOJ blames the alleged assaults on an environment characterized by a toxic culture within the program. They allege people close to the team missed “opportunities to observe and intervene” and that student safety programs didn’t do enough “to deter or address this behavior.” They cited “lax oversight, inconsistent discipline, and inadequate preventative measures.”
“This report is intended to shine a light not only on the specific misconduct by members of NMSU’s basketball team but also the institutional deficiencies that allowed that misconduct to go unaddressed by leaders inside the university,” Attorney General Raúl Torrez said. “While NMSU has made commendable progress since these incidents occurred, more must be done to ensure accountability and prevent future harm.”
The NMDOJ called on NMSU to:
- Develop written guidelines for collaborations between athletics, institutional equity office and the dean
- Institute recurring Title IX and anti-hazing training for all students and staff
- Enforce “disciplinary measures for student-athletes based on the severity of misconduct”
- Strengthen standards for recruiting practices and coach and player vetting
- Ensure senior leadership “prioritizes and adequately funds” safety initiatives and programming
- Establish a center “dedicated to sexual violence education, prevention, and victim advocacy”
The NMDOJ is calling on the New Mexico Legislature to pass anti-hazing legislation. According to them, New Mexico is one of six states that lacks this.
They also identified seven critical areas of concern:
- Institutional governance and student engagement
- Policies
- Reporting mechanisms
- Training
- Athletics Department culture and recruiting practices
- Resources for sexual assault victims
- Interdepartmental coordination.
You can read the full NMDOJ report here.
Here is the letter the NMDOJ sent to NMSU:
Adrian HeddenCarlsbad Current-Argusachedden@currentargus.com A chipmunk the federal government believed could go extinct in southeast New Mexico was given the highest level of protection, while land…
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