A former Durango man who was last seen leaving Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort has been missing for eight days, authorities said Wednesday.
Irvin Rangel, 22, has been missing since the afternoon of Tuesday, Jan. 24. He lived in Durango for 12 to 14 years before moving about six months ago to San Juan County (N.M.), said his father, Martin Rangel.
Irvin Rangel’s 2001 black Lincoln Navigator was found abandoned in a remote location about four miles south of Farmington, said Detective Kevin Burns, with the San Juan County Sheriff’s Department.
The car door was open, and blood was found inside the vehicle, Burns said.
He declined to say how much blood was found in the vehicle or where it was located.
Several people have occupied the vehicle, so it was unknown whether the blood came from Rangel, he said. The sheriff’s department has sent samples of blood to a crime lab in an effort to positively identify the person it came from, he said.
“We would really like to find Irvin and make sure he’s OK,” Burns said. “But we’re really not sure what we have at this point.”
The family has posted missing-person fliers around Durango and purchased an advertisement in The Durango Herald in an effort to locate Rangel.
Burns said Rangel does not have a history of disappearing for prolonged periods of time, and he does not appear to have enemies.
“Everything we’ve heard about him has been positive,” he said.
The sheriff’s department has notified other agencies of his disappearance.
Anyone with information about Rangel’s disappearance is asked to call the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office at (505) 334-6107.
