Shiprock District seeks public help finding missing Montezuma Creek man

A search is underway for 28-year-old Neilton Neil Maryboy, who was last seen near Whitehorse High School in Montezuma Creek and heading toward the San Juan River. The Shiprock District is asking the public to help find him and to report any information that could narrow the search area.

Maryboy is described as 5 feet 6 inches tall, 250 pounds, with brown eyes and brown hair. He was last seen wearing a black shirt. The missing-person alert places him in Montezuma Creek, Utah, a small community of 284 people in the 2020 census that sits in a remote rural setting where Whitehorse High School serves students in grades 7 through 12.

The location matters. Whitehorse High School sits in a sparsely populated part of San Juan County, and the route from the school toward the San Juan River can quickly lead into open country with limited visibility and fast-changing conditions. The river has already been the site of a fatal current-related incident in San Juan County, including a June 8, 2025 drowning near Paiute Farms Wash that prompted a search-and-recovery effort with the Navajo Nation Police Department as lead agency.

The case also comes as Navajo Nation families continue to cope with a large backlog of unresolved missing-person cases. Recent reporting on the Navajo Nation missing-persons poster said 73 cases remained unresolved, including 20 women and 53 men, with some dating back to the 1970s. The department says it uses district announcements and a tip line to help track cases across the Nation.

Anyone with information on Neilton Neil Maryboy is asked to contact Navajo Police at (928) 686-8563 or send a tip to tips.npd@navajo-nsn.gov. Officials are urging people with travel ties through Montezuma Creek, the Whitehorse High area and the San Juan River corridor to check locations, vehicles and cameras for anything that may help bring him home.