Beloved member of local deaf community drowns at Conchas Lake

The state’s deaf community is mourning the loss of a 36-year-old man who drowned Saturday at Conchas Lake, a sprawling reservoir just northwest of Tucumcari in San Miguel County.

A spokesperson for New Mexico State Police wrote in an email Wednesday the drowning victim was Martin Gutierrez of Santa Fe who was deaf and had worked at the New Mexico School for the Deaf. The matter is still being investigated, state police Officer Wilson Silver wrote.

Gutierrez, who worked in the maintenance department at the New Mexico School for the Deaf, also was a graduate of the school.

Priscilla Shannon Gutierrez — Martin Gutierrez’s mother — said in an interview with The New Mexican on Thursday many people in the region are in shock and devastated by the death of her son, particularly within the deaf communities in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, where he was especially active.

“My son was a beam of light, and everyone he touched was impacted by him,” Priscilla Shannon Gutierrez said. “He left an impression on literally everybody that met him — very kindhearted, sweet-natured, funny.”

State police have provided little information about the drowning. The New Mexican has submitted a request for records on the incident to the state Department of Public Safety.

Priscilla Shannon Gutierrez said she obtained much of the information about her son’s death from a Conchas Lake Facebook group and by talking to people who were at the scene and tried to help him.

“It’s Thursday, and I have yet to hear from state police,” Gutierrez said. “I learned of my son’s death Saturday night when … one of the state medical investigators called.”

She added,”I don’t want anybody to ever have to go through what I have gone through.”

She wrote in a text message later Thursday saying a state police commander finally had called her and said the investigating officer didn’t reach out to her because he knew she had already spoken with the medical investigator, and he felt he could go on with his investigation and did not need to contact her.

State police also wrote in an email to The New Mexican the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator had been first to notify Martin Gutierrez’s next of kin after his death.

Martin Gutierrez had been camping alone at Lake Conchas last weekend — about 150 miles from Santa Fe — after camping there the previous weekend and enjoying himself, his mother said, noting her son loved to camp and swim. She was told by someone at the lake that day how her son had been swimming in shallow water before venturing farther from shore.

Her son, a good swimmer, appears to have been caught in a strong undercurrent and drowned, she said. He was picked up by someone who had a Jet Ski at the lake. But attempts at lifesaving measures were unsuccessful.

The New Mexico School of the Deaf released on statement on Martin Gutierrez’s death, saying, “We are heartbroken to share that our dear colleague and 2008 alumnus, Martin Gutierrez, passed away on July 26 at Lake Conchas. Martin was a kind and dedicated member of our NMSD family, first as a student, then as a long-serving staff member. He will be deeply missed.”

People who worked with him also were among those sharing their condolences on social media.

“Martin was one of the kindest, most diligent, and popular staff I had the pleasure of working with,” one person wrote on Facebook.

Another wrote, “As soon as I heard the news, I broke down crying. The maintenance shop will not be the same without him. What sucks is his office is right across from mine. My heart breaks for him and your family. He will carry a legacy at the school and we will never forget him.”