In the early morning hours of September 8, 2026, the quiet of a Roswell, New Mexico neighborhood was shattered by an act of violence that claimed the lives of two people, including 39-year-old Tony Joseph Ontiveros. Responding to a welfare check at a residence on Juniper Street, police discovered a grim scene. Inside, Ontiveros and a woman named Stacia Marie Pearce, 38, were found deceased, both having suffered from gunshot wounds. The initial call to authorities came from a friend of Pearce who had been on the phone with her and heard multiple gunshots before the line went silent. The discovery of the two bodies launched a double homicide investigation by the Roswell Police Department.
As investigators began to piece together the events of that tragic morning, a few key details emerged. A vehicle belonging to Stacia Pearce was reported stolen from the property shortly after the shootings. This vehicle was later recovered by law enforcement, though the circumstances of its recovery have not been publicly detailed. In the days following the double homicide, the Roswell Police Department identified a person of interest they wished to question in connection with the case: 43-year-old Manuel Gallegos. Authorities released his name to the public, asking for any information that might lead to his whereabouts. However, as of late September 2026, no arrests had been made in the case.
The tragedy was compounded by a second devastating event that struck the family of Stacia Pearce. Upon learning of her mother's death, Pearce's daughter, Haylee Gonzales, a student at the University of New Mexico, was traveling to Roswell to be with her family when she was killed in a car accident in Albuquerque. This second loss plunged the family into further grief as they mourned a mother and daughter lost on the same day. The investigation into the double homicide of Tony Joseph Ontiveros and Stacia Marie Pearce is officially ongoing. With a person of interest named but no suspects in custody, the case remains an open and active investigation, leaving a community to grapple with the unanswered questions surrounding the violent end to two lives.
