Grimy Times

Alvin Yazzie, Jr., Homicide Victim, New Mexico 2026

Published March 15, 2026

The dust settles slow in Sanostee, New Mexico, but some stains never wash away. Six years gone since Alvin Yazzie, Jr. turned up broken and bleeding three miles north of the Chapter House, a ghost left to bake under the desert sun. July 15th, 2017. A date etched in the FBI’s cold case files, a date that haunts the Navajo Nation. They’re calling it a homicide, but out here, it feels like something older, something raw and brutal ripped from the land itself. The autopsy doesn’t lie: blunt and sharp force trauma to the head. Someone wanted Yazzie silenced, and they weren’t using whispers.

The last anyone saw of Yazzie, he was locked in a quarrel with another man, a Native American, built like a heavyweight – five-nine, pushing 280 pounds. Witnesses say the argument spilled out of a residence, down a lonely dirt road where shadows stretch long and secrets bury themselves deep. A fight, a pursuit, then…nothing. No witnesses to the final blow, just the grim discovery and a trail gone cold. The FBI is tight-lipped about specifics, but in a place like Sanostee, word travels, and silence speaks volumes. This wasn’t a random act. This was personal.

The Bureau is offering a reward, a paltry $1,000, for information leading to the conviction of Yazzie’s killer. A thousand dollars to break the code of silence, to unravel the threads of this desert tragedy. It's a drop in the bucket, frankly, but it's something. They describe the suspect as having brown eyes and black hair, no reported scars or marks to distinguish him further. A broad brushstroke for a face likely known to someone in the community. Someone who saw, someone who heard, someone who understands the dark currents that run beneath the surface.

Yazzie himself was born July 4th, 1967. Details beyond that are scarce. A life lived on the margins, perhaps, or a life simply unrecorded. But every life deserves justice, even in a place where justice feels like a distant echo. The FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office is leading the hunt, but they need eyes and ears on the ground. They need someone to break the chain of silence.

If you have any information, no matter how small, about the death of Alvin Yazzie, Jr., or the unidentified man he was last seen with, contact the FBI immediately. Don’t let the dust claim another victim. Don’t let this ghost fade into the desert wind. Call the FBI Albuquerque Field Office. A life was taken, and someone knows why.

💰 REWARD: The FBI is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for the death of Alvin Yazzie, Jr.

🔍 Key Facts

Full NameAlvin Yazzie, Jr.
ChargesHomicide Victim Sanostee, New Mexico July 15, 2017
AliasesNone known
Date of BirthJuly 4, 1967
Race / Sexnative / Male
NationalityUnknown
Height5'9"
Weight280 lbs
Eyes / Hairbrown / black
Scars & MarksNone reported
LocationNew Mexico

📋 Source: FBI Most Wanted — Alvin Yazzie, Jr.
If you have information about this fugitive, contact your local FBI field office or submit a tip at tips.fbi.gov.

Source: https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/seeking-info/alvin-yazzie-jr