Public Safety

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Heavy snows and icy roads have left parts of New Mexico with forced delays, dangerous driving conditions and at least one person dead.

New Mexico State Police say at least one person was killed Sunday in a weather related car crash near Waldo, forcing the temporarily closure of Interstate 25 just south of Santa Fe.

The winter storm on Sunday, which struck northern and central areas of the state, also forced the temporary closure of Interstate 40 in Clines Corners where two semi-trucks were jack knifed.

Both highways were reopened as of early Monday, but state transportation officials urged motorists to use extreme caution and expect heavy delays.

Police are currently looking for two suspects in connection to a Los Alamos man’s missing gold coin collection.

The coins are reportedly valued at more than $20,000, according to the owner of the collection.

The owner told police he suspects his sister-in-law and her male companion may have taken them when they stayed at his house without his knowledge on May 8.

According to the collection’s owner, who was identified only as a 57-year-old male living in the 500 block of Camino Cereza, the couple was staying at his house without his knowledge, and when he drove up to his house that day, the couple had a U-Haul out front and soon left without saying goodbye.

Police are currently trying to contact the couple, who live in Austin, according to the police report.

So far though, the police have not tracked down the 18 gold coins that are missing, even though the owner has turned over the serial numbers to police.

“We are following up on a couple of leads, and we’re also trying to determine where the coins have gone at this point,” Los Alamos Police Department Acting Chief Randy Foster said.

This is a special statement from the National Weather Service:

SHARP TRANSITION TO WINTER COMING FOR THE LAND OF ENCHANTMENT...

THE PROLONGED STRETCH OF UNSEASONABLY WARM WEATHER WILL COME TO A JARRING DEMISE THIS WEEKEND. TEMPERATURES WILL EASE DOWNWARD SLIGHTLY IN MORE LOCALES THAN NOT TODAY AND SATURDAY... BUT TEMPERATURES WILL REALLY CRASH SUNDAY AS A STORM SYSTEM AND ITS ASSOCIATED ARCTIC COLD FRONT BARRELS THROUGH THE STATE.

HIGH TEMPERATURES ON SUNDAY WILL BE BETWEEN 20 AND 25 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL ACROSS PORTIONS OF COLFAX AND UNION COUNTIES... A RADICAL CHANGE FROM THE RECENT WARM WEATHER. IN FACT... SOME AREAS OF THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS TO THE FAR NORTHEAST PLAINS WILL STAY BELOW FREEZING SUNDAY AFTERNOON. SUNDAY NIGHT WILL BE THE COLDEST SO FAR THIS SEASON... WITH MANY LOCATIONS ACROSS NORTHERN AND WEST CENTRAL NEW MEXICO BETWEEN 5 BELOW AND 5 ABOVE ZERO. STRONG NORTHERLY WINDS BEHIND THE FRONT WILL ALSO CREATE BITTERLY COLD WIND CHILL VALUES LATER SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT.

Artists may seem like peace-loving folk, but as one Los Alamos resident found out the hard way, if you steal from them, they will hunt you down as relentlessly as the toughest bounty hunter.

That seemed to be what happened Nov. 28 when alleged shoplifter, Melissa Carpenter, decided to help herself to items on display at the Fuller Lodge Art Center. She made off with numerous pieces, according to a Los Alamos Police Department report.

Taken were a denim bag, a decorated rock, a dog necklace and agate turquoise necklaces, mosaic turquoise earrings, a lapis sterling ring, turquoise sterling ring, turquoise butterfly earrings, epoxy earrings, fingerless gloves designed for texting, a ring box, a ring dish, a small plate, two purses, a scarf and a turquoise money clip. The items were all worth about $969.03 with tax, according to the police report.

Among the purloined items were some that an art show volunteer, Deborah Stone-Richard, created herself. When she observed Carpenter acting strangely and then noticed that there were many items missing after she left, she notified police and then went looking for Carpenter herself.