Community Tries to Cope With Deaths of 2 Teenagers

During Christianity’s holiest week, this small rural community is struggling to come to grips with the deaths of two teenagers killed while making a traditional Easter pilgrimage.

Richard Martinez and high school sweetheart Karen Castanon were among thousands of pilgrims making the spiritual trek to the Santuario de Chimayo when they were shot to death. They were both 17.

The killer “needs to know that they were doing God’s will,” said Lynette Duran, a classmate and friend of Karen’s. “I hope he can find compassion and give himself up.”

Martinez’s body was found before dawn on a highway about 30 miles north of Santa Fe. Hours later, Castanon’s body was found nearby in a remote, hilly area.

“I feel it’s a terrible thing, the way it happened,” said Clotilde Castanon, Karen’s grandmother. “They were wonderful kids. We loved her very much. Why did it have to be them?”

Other pilgrims are being asked to come forward with any information they may have about the shootings.

“We believe there are some of the pilgrim walkers out there who may have information about any vehicle or suspicious people in the area, but they haven’t come forward,” state police Sgt. Royleen Ross-Weaver said.

On Saturday, investigators continued combing the crime scenes, looking for evidence and suspects. About 15 miles away, an entourage of pilgrims of all ages flowed into the Santuario, a small Roman Catholic church believed to contain healing dirt.

An ensemble of brightly adorned and feathered musicians replete with conch shells, drums and flutes, danced and chanted around a church altar.

“I prayed to the children that God called home,” said Lorraine Urioste of Santa Fe. “It’s a tragedy for two young people to lose their lives like that . . . coming to pray.”

Every year, tens of thousands of pilgrims make the journey, many of them hoping for miracles from dirt found in a hole in the church. Last year, an estimated 65,000 people visited the church during Holy Week.

Meanwhile at the slain boy’s home in the tiny community of La Villita, along the Rio Grande northwest of Chimayo, his parents sat weeping in their son’s bedroom.

“My son was perfect. He didn’t have any enemies. He was the light of our life,” said Gerri Martinez, the boy’s mother. “My baby didn’t deserve this.”