County sheriff reopens 1999 death probe

PLACITAS, N.M. (KRQE) - Sandoval County sheriff's investigators will be taking a new look at the case of a woman found dead in a mountain canyon now that the FBI has decided the death was not a homicide.

After a lengthy investigation FBI agents determined Carla Salinas Simmons was not the victim of a homicide, an agency spokesperson told KRQE News 13. The spokesperson did not elaborate on its decision but said Simmons' family had been informed and understood the conclusion.

Simmons' partially clothed body found on State Road 165 in the Cibola National Forest near Placitas on Nov. 30, 1999.

For years the FBI had offered a monetary reward for information leading directly to an arrest.

Simmons, 38, had been visiting a friend in Placitas and was on her way home to Carnuel using a backcountry road through the Sandia Mountains when she died.

Since her death Simmons' picture has appeared on a concrete block near Sandia Man Cave where she was found to reminded passersby of her death.

"It's kind of a depressing thing to see," said Jessica Gilstrap who frequents the area. "My gut says it probably is a homicide."

But there are other reminders left behind by those who loved Simmons who posted signs that read "Unsolved murder" and "Who killed Carla?"

John Roth, who lives in Placitas, remembers when the signs went up.

"They want to get it solved," Roth said. "I don't blame them.

"Her friends here in Placitas have kept the case in the public eye."

Roth said he also remembers Simmons' death.

The autopsy described Simmons lying next to her van wearing underpants and a sock with her clothes scattered next to her. Her van was stuck in mud with "evidence a wheel had been spinning."

The Office of the Medical Investigator reported her blood was smeared on a hubcap, wheel and the roadway.

Investigators had concluded that Simmons died from the cold after being beaten. The FBI declined a request for an interview about the case saying they were doing so out of respect for Simmons' family.

For now the signs have served their purpose. Some haven't forgotten Simmons' case and believe the case is not closed.

"The killer's out there somewhere," Roth said. "It'd be great to find him."