Lost On The West Mesa

There but for the grace of God. This was always one of my gnawing fears in New Mexico - somehow getting lost, disoriented, or injured out there:

Deputies believe the woman whose body was found on the West Mesa on Easter Sunday had left herself a video message on her cellphone detailing what led to her death.

That message was left by Brenda Lea Salas.

“There is a video of herself ... talking to herself ... talking about how she has been lost over two days at that point,” said Doug Wood, Sandoval County sheriff.

Deputies said Salas got into a fight with her boyfriend on June 14 at a Walmart. They said she took off in her Buick. ... Two weeks later on June 29, someone found Salas’ car stuck in the sand on a remote dirt road west of town.

...For two years no one found her.

Easter Sunday, though, a family out fossil hunting on the mesa found human remains, clothing, a gym pass and keys to a Buick on a heart-shaped key ring.