Melissa Ann Montoya

• Missing Since 03/09/2001
• Missing From Dulce, New Mexico
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race Native American
• Age 42 years old
• Height and Weight 5'7 - 5'8, 155 - 165 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description Blue jeans and brown boots.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Native American female. Black hair, brown eyes. Montoya's ears are pierced. She wears contact lenses. She is an enrolled member of the Jicarilla Apache Nation.

Details of Disappearance

Montoya was last seen on March 9, 2001, after attending a St. Patrick's Day party at the Jicarilla Apache House of Spirits, a local bar also known as "The Zoo". The bar, now defunct, was located in the 13600 block of Highway 64 in Dulce, New Mexico, on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation bordering northern New Mexico and southern Colorado.

While at the party, Montoya had a conversation with her cousin and indicated she was "newly single." Her live-in boyfriend was, according to her family, controlling, abusive and violent, and Montoya had been afraid to leave him, although her family offered to let her stay with them.

Later that same night, Montoya was talking with a female friend when they were approached by a man, believed to be Montoya's boyfriend. They argued and Montoya told him to leave and give her some space. She continued spending time with her friend, and about an hour later the man approached again and told her it was time to go. She was later seen leaving the bar, followed closely by the man.

She has never been heard from again. Her boyfriend later said he knew nothing about her disappearance and was never at the bar that night, although multiple witnesses reported seeing him there. The boyfriend died shortly thereafter, and the home her shared with Montoya in Colorado burned down; authorities searched the property but found no sign of Montoya.

Montoya's boyfriend remains the only suspect  in her disappearance. Her case remains unsolved.