Albuquerque City Councilor Nichole Rogers spent weeks trying to locate the remains of Jayvon Givan, hitting dead ends, until she asked Councilor Joaquín Baca for help.
Baca found the remains in “literally five minutes,” Rogers said during the council meeting Monday, Oct. 20. The discovery comes more than two weeks after City Desk reported that Givan’s family wasn’t notified of his death for over a year.
The breakthrough came through a personal connection rather than official channels. Baca told City Desk he called Belen Mayor Robert Noblin, owner and funeral director at Noblin Funeral Service, who knew the coordinator at the state’s indigent program in Santa Fe, which handles remains when next of kin cannot be located. A single phone call provided answers that had eluded Rogers for weeks.
Givan, a 28-year-old homeless Black man from Kansas City, was found dead outside a Westside business in September 2024. Police ruled his death a suicide, but his family wasn’t notified until his twin sister filed a missing persons report more than a year later. The New Mexico Department of Justice is conducting an independent review of the case.
“Even though I asked [Albuquerque Police Department] several times to help me locate his remains, Councilor Baca did it in five minutes,” Rogers said during Monday’s City Council meeting. “That was a huge thing from his family — where are his remains, how do we get him home to Kansas City?”
Critical questions about Givan’s death remain unanswered. Rogers told City Desk that his remains are with the state’s indigent program. She could not confirm whether he was cremated before his family was notified, a key concern since cremation would prevent an independent autopsy.
Rogers said she has not received the documents she requested from APD or the Office of Medical Investigator, including the OMI report, 39 crime scene photos and lapel camera footage.
“I’m gonna keep pushing,” she said. “I want to see the photos for myself.”
During the council meeting, she said APD should cover the cost to get Givan’s remains home so the family doesn’t have to “trek all the way down from Kansas City.” The family is “extremely overwhelmed,” she added.
“I just have the feeling this is the tip of the iceberg and I just keep thinking who else is out there like this,” she said.
The case highlights Rogers’ ongoing frustrations with how the city handles deaths of homeless residents, particularly people of color. She said it exposes gaps in the city and APD’s response when families cannot be reached. She believes reforms could prevent similar confusion in the future.
“I’m always focused on improving processes,” Rogers said. “We should handle delicate cases like this with the same care and compassion we use in healthcare. No matter the outcome, there should be a clear process for working with families, especially those searching for loved ones. If we do the right things, we shouldn’t have to worry.”
Rogers said she plans to accelerate legislation she had intended to introduce next year. The proposed African American board and commission would advise the city and APD on cases involving missing, murdered, or endangered Black residents.
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