From: http://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/308866nm05-29-08.htm

Searchers from law enforcement agencies and the National Park Service planned to search again today in El Malpais National Monument for clues to the disappearance of Steven Romero, the Magdalena man who disappeared after a trip to Albuquerque last month.
State Police and Cibola County Sheriff’s deputies, joined by officers from the Cibola County Corrections Department and the Park Service, were scheduled to conduct a line search of the area where Romero’s pickup was found abandoned.
Romero, 61, left his home in Magdalena on April 14 to go to a doctor’s appointment in Albuquerque. He went to the doctor, then headed to Grants, where he got gasoline and ate a meal. His truck was found on the side of N.M. 117 south of Interstate 40 in the national monument on April 18.  A police search using tracking dogs and helicopters failed to turn up any sign of Romero that day. Worried family members later conducted their own search in the area.

From Steven Romero’s friend Tony….

I am a friend of Steve’s from Magdalena. I will be out along with family and other concerned people Saturday, April 26 at 8:30am, meeting at the South Narrows Rim trail, just north of mile marker 35 on Hwy 117 in Grants County. Any who are able to assist us may show up at any time Saturday; we have two-way radios and a person manning the base.

There is a search planned for Steven Romero on Saturday, April 26, 2008. The search will be conducted close to where his truck was found abandoned.

The search for Steven Romero will take place on New Mexico Highway 117 at mile marker 35. This is just south of Grants, NM in the area of the El Malpais National Monument.

The search will begin at 9 am mountain time. Any one that can come to assist or any church or civic organizations that would like to help us are very appreciated. You can contact us at admin @ findstevenromero.org

Steven Romero’s employer has offered a $1000 dollar reward in exchange for information leading to finding Steven. If you have any information at all please call the New Mexico State Police in Grants at 505-287-4377

You may email us here at admin @ findstevenromero.org

Steven Romero has been missing since April 14th, 2008. He is 61 years old and a loved father, grandfather, brother, husband and friend. If you have any information in regards to his disappearance or if you have seen him please let us know.

Here is what we know so far:

Steven Romero went to a doctor’s appointment in Albuquerque, New Mexico and left at 4:30 pm on Monday, April 14th, 2008. Little is known about what happened once he left the appointment. What we do know though is that his truck was found abandoned with two flat tires close to mile marker 35 on New Mexico Highway 117. The family had the tires examined and the tires were not damaged but were out of air.

The following is from a story in the Albuquerque Journal.

LESLIE LINTHICUM Journal Staff Writer

New Mexico State Police are asking for the public’s help in unraveling a mysterious missing person case.Steven Romero, 61, left his home in Magdalena on April 14 to go to Albuquerque. He told his sister, who lives in Albuquerque, that he had a doctor’s appointment and would spend the night with her. He asked a neighbor to feed his dog and said he would be back the next day. No one in his family knows which doctor he was supposed to see or whether he made the appointment, but he never showed up at his sister’s house or contacted any other friends or relatives in Albuquerque.His truck was found Friday on the shoulder of N.M. 117, the highway that cuts through El Malpais National Monument south of Grants.State Police Patrolman Craig Vandiver said Monday that ranchers hauling cattle had seen the truck last Wednesday and police had been called about it Friday.Vandiver said it appeared the truck was traveling south when it stopped with two flat tires. It appeared that Romero had changed one tire but couldn’t change the second one because he had only one spare. Romero’s daughter, Stephanie Hull, said the family had a mechanic look at the truck and determined that the tires were not damaged, only deflated.Vandiver said the truck was not locked and was stocked with fruit, granola bars, sodas and water and showed no sign of a break-in. A ball cap, a halffull soda and a copy of the April 14 Albuquerque Journal were on the console, Vandiver said.There were no footprints leading away from the truck, and tracking dogs from the state penitentiary spent six hours searching the area last Saturday and lost Romero’s scent at the road, leading police to believe he got a ride from someone.Hull said no one in the family knows why Romero would have been headed south on that road when his business was in Albuquerque. “It’s a huge mystery to us,” Hull said. Romero has a mild case of adult-onset muscular dystrophy that causes him to walk with an odd gait, Hull said, but he is in good health and has no mental problems or memory problems.Police consider Romero’s disappearance to be a missing person case.”There was nothing in or around the truck to indicate any struggle or anything criminal,” Vandiver said. He said, though, that police have no idea whether Romero might have come to harm after he left his truck.Romero was driving a 2003 blue extended-cab Ford Ranger with a camper shell. Police are asking anyone who saw Romero or his truck to call the State Police office in Grants at 287-4377.

ROMERO: Last heard from on April 14