An elderly Pahrump man who went missing early last month has been found dead in a rural outdoor site, authorities said.
Juan Bautista-Urrea, 73, had last been seen leaving Desert View Hospital in his vehicle, a silver Honda Ridgeline, at 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 6, the Nye County Sheriff’s Office said.
The Sheriff’s Office immediately requested the public’s help in locating the man, who reportedly spoke very little English, authorities said.
At the time, a sheriff’s office news release stated that detectives were following up on several leads about the circumstances of the man’s disappearance.
In recent weeks, members of the Southern Nye County Search and Rescue team conducted several searches of areas around the valley but were unsuccessful in locating Bautista-Urrea.
A phone call from a citizen on Dec. 28, however, compelled authorities to investigate a reported abandoned vehicle matching the description of Bautista-Urrea’s missing truck in Stewart Valley, near the California line.
The location is southwest of the Pahrump Valley.
The reporting party told authorities that he found a silver Honda Ridgeline truck near a lake bed on the far west side of the valley just after 11 a.m.
“Nye County Sheriff’s Office deputies and detectives responded to the area and discovered Bautista-Urrea lying near his truck, deceased,” the news release stated. “The investigation is ongoing and awaiting a cause of death from the coroner.”
Anyone with additional information pertaining to Bautista-Urrea’s disappearance and death is urged to call the Nye County Sheriff’s Office at 775-751-7000, option five.
Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes