Body found near Cloudcroft in search for missing man; 4 people arrested

OTERO COUNTY, New Mexico (KVIA) -- A body was found outside of Cloudcroft during the search for a missing Mountainair man. Four people have been arrested in connection with the case.

The Otero County Sheriff's Office says the body found is believed to be missing 67-year-old Albert Bernard Pena.

Otero deputies, along with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Alamogordo Police Department, Ruidoso Police Department, High Rolls Fire Search and Rescue Team, Major Crimes Unit, and Narcotics Enforcement Unit, were searching High Rolls, New Mexico for Pena. Search and Rescue personnel found the body during the search.

The body has been turned over to the Office of the Medical Investigator for the State of New Mexico. Officials are still waiting for positive identification and for the cause and manner of death.

"At this time, the case is being investigated as a homicide, and four individuals have been arrested in
connection with this incident," a spokesperson for the Otero County Sheriff’s Office said.

Pena was reported missing to the Torrance County Sheriff’s Office on January 1, 2026. He was last seen at an establishment in Willard, New Mexico on December 30, 2025. Deputies got information that Pena may have been in Otero County on Friday, January 9, 2026, and initiated the search of the High Rolls area.

Officials ask that anyone with information about this case contact the Otero County Sheriff’s Office at 575-437-2210.