His wife describes Joel "Deano" Valdez as a loving father to three young children and "amazing" husband who served in the Marines and had been working on a project across the state as a journeyman lineman.

His disappearance last week as he was traveling home to Coyote from Silver City was out of character, Vikki Valdez said, and has left his family distressed and searching for answers.

There have been no signs of 36-year-old Deano Valdez or his truck — a white, four-door Chevrolet — since Sept. 18, the day he left Silver City to visit his wife and children in the small Rio Arriba County Community west of Abiquiú. Bank statements show he last stopped in Santa Fe that day. He had texted his wife around 2:30 p.m., telling her he was on his way home, she said in an interview Thursday, and sh

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