New Mexico

Tucson family reunited with missing teen after he was found in New Mexico

Published

2 years ago

February 29, 2024

Tucson family reunited with missing teen after he was found in New Mexico

TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – A Tucson family is holding one of their own a little closer tonight.

Marcus Tessier, 13, went missing from his home near Grant and Fairview on Monday night or Tuesday morning. The teen, who is non-verbal and autistic, was found at a Walmart in Deming, New Mexico, late Tuesday.

How the teen made it more than 200 miles away is still a mystery. For now, all Marcus’ family cares about is that he is back home and safe.

More from Alex Valdez

Renee Desmond, Marcus’ mother, said the hours her son was missing were the worst in her life. According to Renee, when she woke up on Tuesday Marcus was nowhere to be found.

“He took off walking and it was just really scary,” Renee said.

Renee said having a child disappear is something no mother should ever wake up to.

“When I couldn’t find him, I realized that he had gone out,” Renee said. “I was looking in the backyard and I couldn’t find him. I went to be a security camera and I was trying to find footage to see which way he went.”

Renee immediately called the police and began the search.

“Police got the bloodhound and they were able to track him down Alturas, down to Fairview, and down to Grant to the train tracks,” Renee said. “It just stopped there.”

While it’s a mystery how Marcus got to Deming, his aunt Helene Desmond has some theories.

“There is a possibility that he hopped on a train,” she said. “There is also a possibility that a semi or a driver was stopping to get Dunkin Donuts and saw a vulnerable person.”

The Deming Police Department told 13 News that its School Resource Officer was summonsed to the Mimbres Memorial Hospital to help identify a patient.

When the SRO was unable to identify the teenager, officials quickly reached out to the New Mexico State Police for help issuing an alert.

Through investigation, Marcus was identified. His mother was notified and drove to Deming to pick him up.

“We’re so lucky and blessed that he came back to us given the circumstances and the odds,” Renee said.

According to Helene, posting on social media helped in the search.

“We were all just so shocked and being able to take pictures and hug him and hold him,” she said. “It was just a very special moment.”

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, if you happen to see a child who appears to be lost there are important tips to keep in mind.

Experts said to avoid any physical contact with the child.

If you can, ask the child questions like if they know if they are lost or the location of their parents, but remember that many children are taught not to give out too much personal information to strangers.

It’s also important to never put a child in a car, and try to seek help. If it’s safe to do so, remain at the immediate location and wait for law enforcement.

Both Helene and Renee said that as hard as it is not to blame themselves, it’s important for people not to assume or judge why or how any child vanishes.

“Children with special needs have those innate natures to want to be independent and wants to do things,” Helene said. “We have to do it in a controlled environment but not always get to it right then and there. When those things happen we have to remember, that we are human.”

The family wants to thank law enforcement and the community for their support and quick response in locating Marcus.

Be sure to subscribe to the 13 News YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@13newskold

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New Mexico

What bills have been filed for New Mexico’s 2026 legislative session?

Published

9 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

What bills have been filed for New Mexico’s 2026 legislative session?

The governor sets the agenda for the session, including for the budget, so here is what they are looking at so far.

SANTA FE, N.M. — As the regular session of the New Mexico Legislature is set to begin Jan. 20, lawmakers have already filed dozens of bills.

Bills include prohibiting book bans at public libraries and protections against AI, specifically the distribution of sensitive and “Deepfake” images

Juvenile justice reform is, again, a hot topic. House Bill 25 would allow access to someone’s juvenile records during a background check if they’re trying to buy a gun.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham sets the agenda and puts forth the proposed budget lawmakers will address during the session. The governor is calling for lawmakers to take up an $11.3 billion budget for the 2027 fiscal year, which is up 4.6% from current spending levels.

Where would that money go? More than $600 million would go to universal free child care. Meanwhile, more than $200 million would go to health care and to protect against federal funding cuts.

There is also $65 million for statewide affordable housing initiatives and $19 million for public safety.

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New Mexico

Understanding New Mexico’s data center boom | Opinion

Published

21 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Understanding New Mexico’s data center boom | Opinion

Paul Gessing, Rio Grande Foundation
| Las Cruces Sun-News

After years of failure to land a “big fish” business for New Mexico’s economy (or effectively use the oil and gas revenues to grow the economy) Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham with the help of her Economic Development Secretary Rob Black have lured no fewer than three large data centers to New Mexico. These data centers are being built to serve the booming world of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and they will have profound impacts on New Mexico.

It is our view that having these data centers locate in New Mexico is better than having them locate elsewhere. While we have many differences of opinion with this governor, we are pleased to see her get serious about growing and diversifying New Mexico’s oil-dependent economy albeit quite late in her second term.

Sadly, the governor and legislature have chosen not to use broad based economic reforms like deregulation or tax cuts to improve New Mexico’s competitiveness. But, with the failure of her “preferred” economic development “wins” like Maxeon and Ebon solar both of which the governor announced a few years ago, but haven’t panned out, the focus on a more realistic strategy is welcome and long overdue.

Currently, three new data centers are slated to be built in New Mexico:

Oracle’s Project Jupiter in Santa Teresa with an investment of $165 billion.
Project Zenith slated to be built in Roswell amounts to a $11.7 billion investment.
New Era Energy & Digital, Inc. While the overall investment is unclear, the energy requirement is the largest of the three at 7 gigawatts (that’s seven times the power used by the City of San Francisco).

What is a data center? Basically, they are the real-world computing infrastructure that makes up the Internet. The rise of AI requires vast new computing power. It is critical that these facilities have uninterrupted electricity.

That electricity is going to be largely generated by traditional sources like natural gas and possibly nuclear. That contravenes New Mexico’s Energy Transition Act of 2019 which was adopted by this Gov. and many of the legislators still in office. Under the Act electrical power emissions are supposed to be eliminated in a few years.

With the amount of money being invested in these facilities and the simple fact that wind and solar and other “renewable” energy sources aren’t going to get the job done. In 2025 the Legislature passed and MLG signed HB 93 which allows for the creation of “microgrids” that won’t tax the grid and make our electricity more expensive, but the ETA will have to be amended or ignored to provide enough electricity for these data centers. There’s no other option.

New Mexicans have every right to wonder why powerful friends of the governor can set up their own natural gas microgrids while the rest of us face rising costs and decreased reliability from so-called “renewables.” Don’t get me wrong, having these data centers come to New Mexico is an economic boon.

But it comes tempered with massive subsidies including a 30-year property tax exemption and up to $165 billion in industrial revenue bonds. New Mexico is ideally suited as a destination for these data centers with its favorable climate and lack of natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. We shouldn’t be giving away such massive subsidies.

Welcoming the data center boom to New Mexico better than rejecting them and pushing them to locate in other states. There is no way to avoid CO2 emissions whether they happen here or somewhere else. But, there are questions about both the electricity demand and subsidies that must be addressed as New Mexico’s data center boom begins.

What will the Legislature, radical environmental groups, and future governors of our state do to hinder (or help) bring these data centers to our State? That is an open question that depends heavily on upcoming statewide elections. It is important that New Mexicans understand and appreciate these complicated issues.

Paul Gessing is president of New Mexico’s Rio Grande Foundation. The Rio Grande Foundation is an independent, nonpartisan, tax-exempt research and educational organization dedicated to promoting prosperity for New Mexico based on principles of limited government, economic freedom and individual responsibility

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New Mexico

New Mexico maintains full childhood vaccine recommendations despite HHS rollback

Published

1 day ago

January 7, 2026

Press Room

New Mexico maintains full childhood vaccine recommendations despite HHS rollback

SANTA FE, N.M. (KFOX14/CBS4) – The New Mexico Department of Health says it will continue to recommend the full schedule of childhood vaccines.

State officials announced the move Tuesday, directly defying a new federal policy that scaled back routine immunization guidance.

The announcement comes after U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS), under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., reduced the number of vaccines it recommends for all children.

The New Mexico Department of Health stated the federal changes were “not based on new scientific evidence or safety data.”

“New Mexico will not follow the federal government in walking away from decades of proven public health practice,” said Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. “Our recommendations remain unchanged.”

State health officials sought to reassure parents, emphasizing that vaccines remain widely available and covered by insurance.

“We know this is confusing for parents, but the science is clear: vaccines are safe, effective, and save children’s lives,” said Dr. Miranda Durham, chief medical officer for NMDOH.

All childhood vaccinations will continue to be covered under programs like Medicaid and the federal Vaccines for Children Program.

The state encourages parents to consult their healthcare providers using the American Academy of Pediatrics’ immunization schedule.

RECOMMENDED: CDC cuts childhood vaccine list, sparking healthcare professionals’ concerns

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