NM NM - Shiprock, UnkSex&Race 4-6, UP155130, in remote area of the Navajo Nation, Red clot, toy plane, blanket with dried flowers, Mar'01

[Romulus]

Unidentified Person/NamUs #UP155130
Unsure, Uncertain
Date Body Found: March 14, 2001
Location Found: Shiprock, New Mexico
Estimated Age Range: 4-6 Years

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

Estimated Age Group: PreAdolescent
Estimated Age Range (Years): 4-6
Estimated Year of Death--
Estimated PMI--
Height: Cannot Estimate
Weight: Cannot Estimate

Circumstances​

Type: Unidentified Deceased
Date Body Found: March 14, 2001
NamUs Case Created: February 6, 2026
ME/C QA Reviewed--

Location Found ​

Map​

Location: Shiprock, New Mexico
County: San Juan County
GPS Coordinates (Not Mapped)--
Found On Tribal Land: Yes

Circumstances of Recovery: The remains were located eroding from the side of an arroyo in a remote area of the Navajo Nation. A local archeologist excavated the remains and found a small makeshift grave of arranged stones. The remains were wrapped in a blanket with dried flowers and a toy plane. They were collected by the archaeologist and brought to the OMI.

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Details of Recovery​

Inventory of Remains--
Condition of Remains
Not recognizable - Partial skeletal parts only

Physical Description​

Hair Color: Unknown
Head Hair Description--
Body Hair Description--
Facial Hair Description--
Left Eye Color: Unknown
Right Eye Color: Unknown
Eye Description--

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Distinctive Physical Features​

No Information Entered​

Clothing and Accessories​

Item
Description
Clothing
Red cloth was found with the remains. Possibly a remnant of a blanket
Near the Body

Other
Toy plane

 

[kforbes862]

Is there nothing estimating how long the remains had been in the makeshift grave?

 

[victoriarobinson642]

I wonder if the child's parents couldn't afford to bury them "properly."

 

[Rikissa]

I wonder if the child's parents couldn't afford to bury them "properly."

Depending on how "old" the grave was, what says that the place couldn't have been an important place to the child's family, and that there might be other graves around that place. Maybe the family's ancestry had more to do with it, than to follow the "white man's rules"? An archeologist excavated the grave, so it seems that there were considerations that it might have been a historic burial place, and not a new "can't afford a grave" burial. Different cultures, different traditions.