Eldery Sanostee man goes missing

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Karen Francis
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — A Sanostee man has been missing for more three months, and his family is asking for the public’s help in finding him.

Wilson T. Happy, 68, was last seen walking on U.S. Highway 491 near Little Water, which is north of Newcomb, on June 5, his niece Rita Castillo said. He was last seen wearing a faded dark flannel shirt, black pants and a blue baseball cap. He has shoulder-length salt-and-pepper hair that he usually wears in a ponytail. His nose has a small dent in the middle.

“He never used to take off for more than two days,” Castillo said.

She suspects that he may have been headed to Hogback.

“I don’t know why he was walking,” she said, adding that he usually gets someone to drive him where he needs to go.
The family is very concerned especially because he has a heart condition and is taking medication.

The family is hoping that perhaps someone who might have given him a ride or seen him walking can call to aid in the investigation.

Right now, family members are constantly searching for Happy, even though they don’t know where to look.
“We want to find him. We’re worried. The family is searching every day. They don’t know where to search but they just search all around the house, around Shiprock-Littlewater area, alongside the road, Dumpsters, irrigation ditches in Shiprock, and now they’re searching up in the mountains in the Sanostee area,” she said. “We welcome any volunteers that are willing to search.”

Castillo said that the family contacted the police to report him missing but so far nothing has come up.

“They’re doing their best. The investigators are involved and the FBI are involved but they said they really can’t do anything more because there’s no evidence,” Castillo said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Castillo at (505) 879-9358 or the Criminal Investigation Section in Shiprock at (505) 368-1300.