GREELEY, Colo. — A Weld County family is still trying to figure out what happened to their loved one after he disappeared six years ago. Ever Orozco was reported missing in 2017 after leaving for a trip with some friends. He was 28 years old at the time.
His family said his remains were found three years later in a remote part of New Mexico.
"He was my best friend," his sister, Anahi Orozco, said. "It sucks to just not share the special moments with him and it's lonely."
Orozco reported her brother missing back in 2017. He had left with some friends on Christmas morning for a road trip to New Mexico. He never came back.
Three years later, Ever's family said his bones were found in western New Mexico. His sister photos from the scene with 9NEWS. Ever's late grandfather's belt was found with his remains. An autopsy report provided by Orozco states he went missing under "suspicious circumstances" but his cause and manner of death were undetermined.
"I was kind of relieved that they did find him and that I would get to see him again and she proceeded to tell me that they found remains so I wasn't going to get a body, I wasn't going to get a last hug," Orozco explained as she began to cry.
After he was found, the case went cold.
"This is one of those cases where you kind of shake your head and think why hasn't this been covered before?" said former Albuquerque Journal reporter Joline Gutierrez Krueger.
Gutierrez Krueger wrote a story a year after Ever Orozco's remains were found. In the story, the Cibola County undersheriff at the time said the case had been cleared as a missing person found dead.
"They weren't sure if they could do much more unless they could get someone to come forward to talk," Gutierrez Krueger added.
So far, Orozco said no one has talked. She hopes that changes.
"I want to know what he went through and why someone couldn’t just let him be," she said. "I want justice for Ever. I want for somebody to come forward for him to have peace for us to have peace. He was a great person, he was an amazing father, an amazing brother and son and he did not deserve this. We deserve closure."
9NEWS reached out to the Cibola County Sheriff's Office. They have yet to respond.
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