2011 shooting death of Commerce City man found near I-76 still unsolved

The Weld County Sheriff’s Office is still searching for answers 14 years after a man was found dead south of Hudson in 2011 after he was held for ransom.

Armando Mata-Magallanes was found shot to death a day after he had called his roommate, then his girlfriend, on July 8, 2011, asking them both to sell his truck for the ransom money, according to the Weld County Sheriff’s Office. The request was likely to pay a ransom after he had been taken hostage.

Mata-Magallanes had left his Commerce City home that morning, but never made it to work at a granite wholesale company in Aurora.

The sheriff’s office launched a multi-day search after a train conductor reported Mata-Magallanes’ body on July 9 near Lochbuie, but never uncovered a murder weapon.