Jun. 19—Authorities have recovered the remains of two people killed as the growing South Fork wildfire edged toward the Village of Ruidoso this week, a New Mexico State Police spokesman said Wednesday.

One of those killed was Patrick Pearson, 60, who died Monday evening while trying to walk away from a Ruidoso hotel where he had lived since 2021, said his daughter, Hilary Mallak of Rio Rancho.

On Tuesday, just before noon, State Police officers were called to a scene less than a mile away, south of Alto. They found a person located in the driver seat of a burned vehicle on Ranier Road.

“The decedent is unidentified at this time due to the condition being skeletal remains,” NMSP spokesman officer Wilson Silver told the Journal on Wednesday afternoon. “No legible identification documents were located in the burned vehicle.” Further details weren’t available.

Residents in the village of about 8,000 people were ordered to evacuate Monday as high winds fanned the South Fork Fire and the smaller Salt Fire south of Ruidoso.

A professional musician, Pearson had been waiting for someone with a vehicle to pick him up at the Swiss Chalet Inn, 1451 N. Mechem Drive, which was destroyed by fire, said Mallak, the eldest of Pearson’s three children.

“The part that’s sad is that in the end, he was alone and probably scared, and had nowhere to go,” Mallak said. “It’s shocking.”

Pearson had made arrangements to get a ride from a woman who was unable to enter Ruidoso during a chaotic evacuation of the mountain village on Monday night, his daughter said.

Pearson did not have a car and had broken his leg several weeks earlier, Mallak said. He was wearing a leg brace and using a walker, she said.

“He must have realized that no one was coming, or no one was coming in time,” Mallak said. Pearson made it only a short distance from the hotel before he was overcome by smoke or heat, she said.

State Police notified the family of Pearson’s death at about 10 p.m. Tuesday. “He made it across the parking lot,” she said. He was found curled up under a tree, she said.

Pearson didn’t have a wallet or identification on him at the time of his death. Authorities identified Pearson after his son called police on Tuesday and reported that Pearson had failed to turn up at a shelter. He was identified by a distinctive tattoo and leg brace, Mallak said.

A graduate of Highland High School in Albuquerque, Pearson played bass and sang in a variety of bands at clubs in Albuquerque and throughout New Mexico and Arizona. He played in Ruidoso in 2011 and decided to move to the town.

“He did a gig there a few years ago and just loved it,” Mallak said. Pearson performed about twice a week at Quarters Nightclub and Grill in Ruidoso, she said.

The Office of the Medical Investigator plans to transport Pearson’s remains to Albuquerque, but no funeral arrangements have been made, she said. The family has set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for his funeral.