Los Alamos Teen Dies by Suicide at Rio Grande Gorge Bridge

First responders had been warned Chad A. Maestas was coming. They couldn't reach him in time.

The 19-year-old Los Alamos resident died by suicide Easter Sunday at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge after first responders received word early that afternoon that he was en route to Taos following expressions of suicidal ideation. Maestas drove to the bridge via U.S. 285, and bridge security watched him make two passes over the structure before he circled back, stopped his vehicle on the deck, ran to the railing, and jumped. U.S. Route 64 was closed in both directions at the bridge for roughly three hours, with a motorist confirming the closure was in effect at approximately 2:45 p.m.

Taos County Sheriff Steve Miera and two deputies descended into the Rio Grande Gorge on Monday morning, crossing the river by raft to recover Maestas's remains from approximately 565 feet below the bridge deck. "Today your sheriff's office, sadly, had to descend into the Rio Grande Gorge to recover another suicide victim," Miera said in a news release announcing the recovery.

Maestas's death was the first suicide recorded at the bridge in 2026 and the first since the New Mexico Department of Transportation closed the structure's sidewalks to foot traffic last fall. Then-Transportation Secretary Ricky Serna ordered that closure following a string of suicides in 2025, when seven people died at the bridge, the highest annual total on record. Three of those deaths came in September alone. Electronic traffic signs on both approaches now warn pedestrians away from the sidewalks, which had been popular with tourists and sightseers for decades.

The 2025 deaths drove two community rallies at the bridge, including the Community Rally for Accountability on December 12, organized by local nonprofits True Kids 1 and Help Outreach Taos. At that rally, Serna made a public commitment to raise the railings. An engineering study put the project at approximately $8 million: extending the existing four-foot railing panels to six to eight feet with an angled top to deter climbing, and replacing the current sidewalks with lightweight concrete capable of supporting the added load. The state legislature included $5 million in House Bill 2, and NMDOT identified an additional $3 million in its FY2027 budget to complete the funding.

Serna resigned February 9, 2026, but NMDOT spokesperson Kristine Bustos-Mihelcic reaffirmed the agency's position. "NMDOT is committed to completing this project and raising the rails at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge remains a top priority," Bustos-Mihelcic said. Construction on the permanent barriers is slated to begin in fall 2026, and the agency has scheduled a community meeting on the railing design in Taos for May 7.

Discussions between the Taos County Sheriff's Office and NMDOT about erecting an intermediate temporary barrier remain ongoing. Miera has previously questioned the effectiveness of the 10 crisis call boxes already installed on the bridge, noting that the current four-foot railings do not give people time to reconsider or allow first responders time to intervene.

The bridge, completed in 1965 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1967, carries a historic designation that has imposed additional preservation requirements on any structural modifications. If the $8 million project proceeds on schedule, the railing installation would be the most significant structural change to the 60-year-old span in its history.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.