Person of interest identified in case of missing 62-year-old Navajo woman

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.- Navajo Nation police have identified Preston Tolth as a person of interest in the disappearance of 62-year-old Ella Mae Begay.

She was reported missing in Sweetwater, Arizona.

The last time her son, Gerald Begay, heard from her was Saturday, June 12.

"She was asking about the kids, and you know, we were planning on I’m trying to bring the kids down here, so we can spend some time with her and stuff," Begay said.

Tolth was found in Thoreau Thursday a little after 1 p.m.

"We also found this person of interest so right now we’re conducting some more investigation we can’t really say much more at this time, because we’re still in the process of gathering more information from this person of interest and other evidence that may be there, so we don’t really have much more," said Navajo Nation Police Chief Philip Francisco.

Searches by foot, ATV’s and even by drone have all been conducted with no sign of Ella Mae.

“We’re just gonna keep on looking until we find her, until we get to the bottom of everything. It’s just a bad time for something to happen, you know, my mom doesn’t deserve that, she doesn’t deserve that," said Begay.

If you have any information on her whereabouts, call the Navajo Police Department.

In a previous version of this story, police stated that Begay’s vehicle had been found. Police have informed KOB 4 that the vehicle is actually still missing.