CO CO - Gabriel Max Baldonado, early 40s, abandoned car found under logs, Pagosa Springs, 13 Aug 2020

[YaYa_521]

Abandoned car found under massive pile of logs, owner missing
Abandoned car found under massive pile of logs, owner missing

...a silver 2014 Toyota Camry, sticking out through the debris pile on Aug. 13

The car was located up West Fork Road (Forest Service Road 648), about 15 miles north of Pagosa Springs, but located in Mineral County, right before U.S. Highway 160 starts to climb Wolf Creek Pass.

• couldn’t have been there more than 10 days.
• believes heavy machinery was used to bury the car.
• Nothing was found inside the car
• vehicle... in good working order
• New Mexico license plates...owner as Gabriel Max Baldonado of Albuquerque - unable to locate

“I think everything’s on the table right now, and foul play is always an option, as weird as this is,” Hosselkus said. “Most people don’t just go out and bury their car.”

...Sheriff’s Office at (719) 658-2600.

 

[YaYa_521]

The driving distance from Albuquerque, NM to Pagosa Springs, CO is about 3.5 hours. I hope Mr. Baldonado is okay. I wonder what's going on here. It's very odd to find a car buried under logs.

 

[YaYa_521]

Buried, abandoned vehicle found near West Fork

“It was almost completely buried except for a portion of one side that you could see,” he said regarding the car buried under debris and logs.

“We’re still thinking that a piece of equipment might have been used, like a Bobcat or a backhoe. There was a lot of stuff dumped on it that didn’t really look like it was done by hand,” he said.

Snip

“There was a bunch of debris, timber, laying there, and according to people on the West Fork, that stuff had been there for years. It was used to cover this car up,” he said.

Snip

“I just don’t understand why the owner would take the time to bury it like that. That doesn’t make sense,” he said. “It’s really rocky down there. We didn’t see tracks or anything. There was a lot of big rocks piled around it and stuff. It just seemed like a lot of work to be done by hand.”

 

[ZhaZhaHa]

How strange. They think heavy equipment was used to cover it? I’d think foul play if that. If you wanted to disappear you could just walk away from the car.

I see a profile from NM on FB but not sure if it’s him and it hasn’t been very active in several years.

 

[azure]

Really odd. No idea what to think yet. Wanted to point out that out of the many cases where cars are found in strange circumstances, this is one of the few with a clear photo of the car as found in the article! Thank you, Mineral County Sheriff's Office!

 

[azure]

Found an interesting fundraiser if anyone can conclusively link to this Gabriel Baldonado...

 

[Tracey4AU]

This is soooo strange!

 

[YaYa_521]

How strange. They think heavy equipment was used to cover it? I’d think foul play if that. If you wanted to disappear you could just walk away from the car.

I see a profile from NM on FB but not sure if it’s him and it hasn’t been very active in several years.

I saw that FB profile too. If that is him, imo the name of his employer implies he works in the healthcare field. I find that interesting because I ran across an article about a different Baldonado who was arrested for price gouging N95 masks for Covid 19. A Covina man named Johnwill Baldonado, 30, was arrested in Apr and a subsequent search found 21 boxes of N95 respirators.

Covina Man Arrested on Suspicion of Price Gouging in Sale of Masks

 

[Sprockett7701]

Yep...it’s 2020, why am I surprised! WTH...

 

[YaYa_521]

Coronavirus: Covina Man Arrested In Sting For Price-Gouging Sales Of N95 Masks

...received a tip about a man selling N95 masks through a classified website for $300 a box, with each box containing 20 masks.
Snip

• Undercover officers arranged a meeting with the suspect
• purchased a box of masks from him
• total of 21 boxes and 421 masks available for sale
• he bought them himself for $200 and tried to flip it for $300
• FDA identified the masks...were meant for Canada
• arrested -price gouging during a state of emergency
• he was not working and had fallen on hard times

 

[bestill]

Why not burn it and why leave the tag on it? Just weird all the way around.

 

[azure]

Why not burn it and why leave the tag on it? Just weird all the way around.

I noted that the car seemed to be in almost perfect shape when it was cleaned off and towed, so maybe destroying the car was not the goal.

 

[azure]

The FB profile in question hasn't been used in 10 years and is from a location 3 hours from Albuquerque. It's a big stretch to link that to a crime committed in California. The name is pretty common, there was a child also named GB who died in Albuquerque not too long ago. JMO IMO.

 

[YaYa_521]

The FB profile in question hasn't been used in 10 years and is from a location 3 hours from Albuquerque. It's a big stretch to link that to a crime committed in California. The name is pretty common, there was a child also named GB who died in Albuquerque not too long ago. JMO IMO.

Ah! Ok, that makes sense.

 

[azure]

So I have reason to believe the G** guy is our guy based on people search results. I won't post until I'm 100% certain. If this is him, I wonder what happened in 3 years between the tragic event at the center of the G** and now that has him estranged from his family.

Also if the G** guy is our guy, the FB profile is not him.

 

[MimosaMornings]

So I have reason to believe the G** guy is our guy based on people search results. I won't post until I'm 100% certain. If this is him, I wonder what happened in 3 years between the tragic event at the center of the G** and now that has him estranged from his family.

Also if the G** guy is our guy, the FB profile is not him.

If that is him, those 3 children are young.
Where is Gabriel?

 

[Orgona]

Just brainstorming:

Why would someone bury their own car this way?

a, To see that no one finds their car in awhile
b, If he believed it to be well hidden then to conceal it forever
c, To make sure it stays there unharmed until the person gets back (well this sounds kind of silly)
d, ?
e, ?

Why would someone bury someone else’s car like that?

a, To delay detection
b, If he believed it to be well hidden then to conceal it forever
c, Prank
d, To send a message to the owner (provided he could/would ever find it)
e, ?
f, ?

If the goal was to make it disappear, why would someone leave the number plate on it which makes it easier to identify the owner in case someone finds it? Taking the plates off can’t be that much extra work if one went to that length to bury it. Although, it could also be identified via the VIN nr?

Where is the suspected machinery which could have been used to bury the vehicle?
This is all so strange

 

[whitelilac]

Buried/hidden car...reminds me of James diMaggio who kidnapped Hannah Anderson in CA, when they were found in the wilderness in Idaho. The vehicle was found buried under greenery and branches.

 

[Orgona]

To pull some tree branches off the car later with bare hands could be achieved relatively easy. Well, it depends on the size of the branches used. Maybe there just weren’t enough of it laying around?

Because of LE’s suspicion of machinery use I would like to know how easy it was to uncover the vehicle. How easy or difficult it was could be an indication the owner or perp wanted to be able to use it at a later time or not.

Where would someone get a bobcat or something similar to use it there? Is there somewhere a base/station of a service which is tasked with the maintenance of that forest or forest roads?
According to the article below there is a nearby campground and LE has talked to the host. I wonder if they sometimes have some machinery there?

Abandoned car found under massive pile of logs, owner missing

 

[Darwin]

is this his current address possibly in Washington? It shows previous address as of May 2020 being in Albuquerque NM with a recent address in WA this July. Age matches as well. https://www.searchpeoplefree.com/find/gabriel-max-baldonado/17ADe2ncG1Wo