The Tri-City Record has found that the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office found the remains of a woman who went missing from the Farmington Inn in 2023 but issued no statement to notify the public.
The remains of Tambra Henning, 62, of Nageezi, were discovered Feb. 1 on BLM land in the Blanco Largo Canyon area off Sullivan Road, according to an incident report from the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office.
The case was opened by the Farmington Police Department when Henning went missing April 26, 2023, and reportedly was last seen April 24, 2023, at the Farmington Inn. It was turned over the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office Dec. 19, 2023.
In a mostly redacted case report from the Sheriff’s Office, Henning’s death was classified as a first-degree murder. The names of the four suspects were blacked out and listed as “confidential law enforcement records.”
The report from the Sheriff’s Office consisted of 29 pages. Two pages were entirely redacted, and 27 pages were partially redacted.
Concerned about the heavy and unusual redactions from the Sheriff’s Office, the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government sent the office a letter requesting an explanation.
Amanda Lavin, NMFOG legal director wrote:
“There is no blanket exception for ‘Confidential Law Enforcement Records,’ as you have indicated on the redactions contained throughout this report.”
She further stated that “an adequate explanation of the redactions” is required, and it should explain “what specific exception you are relying on to justify withholding records from inspection.”
In a continued effort to obtain the public records, the Tri-City Record requested the original missing person’s report from the Farmington Police Department.on Dec. 19. The Police Department responded quickly that same day, and provided the records free of redactions.
The Farmington Police report listed Derek Barr, 38, as a potential suspect in the case. Barr allegedly attempted to kidnap Henning in January 2023 and faced charges of false imprisonment, aggravated assault and criminal damage to property. Henning was the victim in the case.
Henning even told Assistant District Attorney Paul Bleicher “she was scared for her life due to threats made by Derek (Barr),” the report states.
Barr, along with his girlfriend, Noel Taylor, 37, reportedly attacked Henning Jan. 31, 2023, at Dino’s Gas Station. Henning’s car was damaged as they allegedly broke the windshield and rear window with a stick and disabled the car, according to the affidavit for arrest warrant.
Taylor, who listed as an involved party in the missing person’s report, also was charged with false imprisonment, aggravated assault and criminal damage to property. She reportedly was injured in the incident when Henning hit her with the car while attempting, according to the affidavits.
Barr and Taylor reportedly confronted Henning about a missing purple Harley Davidson motorcycle, which they thought Henning stole, according to the affidavit.
They reportedly were living at a residence on County Road 6875 in Bloomfield, and Henning left her phone number there, inquiring about renting the house, the affidavit states.
A purple Harley Davidson motorcycle was stolen from the property, and Barr allegedly was seeking information about the missing motorcycle when he reportedly approached Henning “with a baseball bat and intended to kidnap her” during the Jan. 31 incident.
The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office report referenced “the quarrel between” possible suspects and Henning “prior to her death.”
Because the heavily redacted Sheriff’s Office report blacked out all other information concerning the incident, the Tri-City Record found the information through 11th Judicial District Court records and the police report, which listed Danny Herrera, 50, of Bloomfield, and Aurelia Sena Hernandez, 39, of Farmington, as other potential suspects.
Hernandez became a suspect after she met with Farmington Police detectives on Dec. 11, 2023, and provided them with information about the alleged murder of Henning.
Hernandez reportedly told police that Barr and Herrera made statements that Henning “needs to disappear,” because she “snitched on us and set us up.” This was in reference to the assault case filed against Barr and Taylor, the report states.
Barr and Taylor reportedly were upset with Henning because Taylor’s leg was injured and “had some screws because Henning had ran Taylor over,” Hernandez told Farmington Police.
Hernandez told police “that they needed Henning to disappear so she could not testify against them,” according to the report.
The charges against Barr and Taylor were dropped Sept. 5, 2023, by the San Juan County District Attorney’s office. The nolle prosequi document stated that this was “in the best interest of justice.”
While questioning Hernandez, Farmington Police stated in the report that “some of the information Hernandez was providing at this point made it sound like she was possibly there when Henning was murdered.”
The woman also reportedly told police the gun used to shoot Henning belonged to Taylor, the report states.
Hernandez took police to an area in Largo Canyon, where the remains were found on April 1 by San Juan County Sheriff’s investigators, and OMI confirmed the remains were Hennings on April 9.
The case was transferred to the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office once it was determined that the alleged homicide happened in the county.
Sheriff’s Detective J. Yazzie took over the case and investigated the involvement of two people, who were serving time in the Cibola County Correctional Facility and Torrance County Detention Facility. It was not clear whether the individuals were witnesses or suspects, according to the incident report.
Yazzie accessed jail and video calls between the two through a search warrant, but requested the warrant be sealed “based on the violence of the crime.”
Deputy District Attorney Brian Decker approved the search warrants, and Judge Curtis Gurley granted the request to seal the documents.
There also was a person in federal custody, who reportedly led sheriff’s investigators to “the possible area where Tambra Henning had possibly been killed and disposed,” the incident report states.
The woman and her attorney rode in a Sheriff’s Office unit “equipped with cameras and a microphone in the backseat for the entirety” of the individual being in custody, the incident report states.
Those videos and recording have been requested by the Tri-City Record.
Sheriff’s investigators on Jan. 2 also worked with the FBI on this case “with processing of several handguns possibly related to a homicide of missing person Tambra Henning,” and then referred it on Feb. 13 to the FBI, according to the incident report.
The Tri-City Record contacted the FBI on Dec. 20, seeking the status of the case.
