Missing
Kaylene Marie Gallegos
Gallegos, approximately 2010
Date and time person was reported missing : 05/22/2010
Missing location (approx) :
Lakeside, Arizona
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Female
Ethnicity :
Hispanic
DOB : 08/07/1988 (32)
Age at the time of disappearance: 22 years old
Height / Weight : 5'0 - 5'3, 100 - 120 pounds
Description, clothing, jewerly and more : A gray tank top, a light brown sweater, dark-colored jeans and flip-flops.
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Hispanic female. Brown hair, brown eyes.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Gallegos left her father's Lakeside, Arizona residence on May 20, 2010. She got into a vehicle with two men, one of whom was Jacob Mata, and they went to Phoenix, Arizona to purchase heroin.
After the group bought the heroin, one of the men left and another woman joined Gallegos and Mata. They were on the way to Show Low, Arizona on State Route 87, when they got lost and ended up on a Forest Service road in the White Mountain Apache Forest.
At 8:00 p.m. on May 22, the three people arrived at an open area and stopped to decide what to do next. Gallegos and Mata wanted to stay where they were and wait to be found, but the second woman wanted to continue. She took the car and drove away, and Mata and Gallegos built a fire and spent the night where they were.
According to Mata, the next morning, the pair began walking, about fifteen to thirty yards apart from each other. They entered a small canyon and began climbing the side, and Mata reached the top of the ridge and saw a road. This was shortly after 1:00 p.m.
He called down to Gallegos and she called back to him, but he never saw or heard from her again after that. Mata searched the area for about 40 minutes, calling her name, but couldn't find her and decided to leave without her.
Three cars drove by, and he stopped them and asked for water, food and directions. He told the third vehicle's driver that Gallegos was lost in the forest. Mata eventually made it out of the forest, but he saw the police and tried to run away from them because he had outstanding warrants and was carrying both heroin and methamphetamine.
He was arrested, and it was about a week before investigators asked him to show them the place where he had last seen Gallegos. By then he could no longer remember the exact spot.
Gallegos and Mata's female companion backed up his story, but there have been rumors that Gallegos met with foul play and that her disappearance was drug-related. She's missing under unclear circumstances and her case remains unsolved.
Other information and links : ncy
Navajo County Sheriff's Office
928-524-4050
September 2021 updates and sources
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are not known. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2�5% of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
Several organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and imAge at the time of disappearance: s of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
The White Mountain Independent
Missing Persons of America
October 12, 2004. July 13, 2018; picture added.
Interactive Missing Person Search Map
