Update: After this story had already gone to press on Friday, the DA held a press conference where she announced indictments for Sheriff Danny Sanchez, Undersheriff Cruz Soto. Sergeant Caleb Sanchez, Deputy Kraig Schulta and former Deputy Roland Riley.

For more information, read "DA Anne Kelly indicts five officers with the Costilla County Sheriff's Office" on this website with an expanded article to appear in the April 1 edition of the Valley Courier

ALAMOSA — When Kim Wisdom moved with her family from the Western Slope to the San Luis Valley, she was looking for a quiet, affordable place where they could live while they built a place to retire on acreage outside of town. The property was north of Highway 160 near to Blanca in Costilla County.

Settling first in Alamosa, Wisdom and her son chose the ten acres in Costilla County because of its beautiful view of Mount Blanca and room for the animals they hoped to own one day. Ready to make their dream a reality, every weekend, the family began moving equipment and possessions to their property in the first steps of what would eventually be their home. “It’s so beautiful out there,” she says. “We were so excited to get going. It was a real labor of love.”  

That all changed early on the morning of Sunday, November 2, 2025.

Wisdom’s husband and her son had driven out to their property as usual and were immediately stunned by what they found.

The door to the camper where they stored all their camping gear and tools was torn off its hinges and everything inside was gone. Their 2500 gallon septic tank was gone. Their portable shed, their generators, solar panels, telephone poles,  fencing materials and fencing wire were missing. Furniture that was on a flatbed trailer was taken off, thrown on the ground and the flatbed trailer was gone.  

“That’s just some of the things,” Wisdom says. “There’s more.”  After going through the list, property valued at more than $40,000 had been stolen.

Wisdom immediately reported it to the sheriff’s department and was told by Deputy Riley that her husband and son should wait for him at the site, and he would "be right out". Hours passed with no deputy, so Wisdom’s husband and son drove the area, ultimately finding their possessions on a man’s property. It only took an hour to find it; the property was in plain sight.

With no call from the deputy, Wisdom’s husband and son finally drove back to Alamosa. Just as they walked in the house at 9:00 p.m., the deputy called and said he was there.

According to Wisdom, the deputy did not take any notes, did not complete a police report or statement that he asked them to sign. Nothing. He just listened, made the comment, “We think we know who it is,” and said CCSO would be in touch.

Two days passed with no word from anyone with CCSO. Meanwhile, everything that was stolen was still out in the open on the other man’s property.

Wisdom became very concerned that the suspect would start selling what he had stolen, but they didn’t have the right to go on his land. And CCSO said there “was nothing they could do” until they got a search warrant.

“It took them nine days – nine days –to get the warrant”, she says, adding she can’t be certain but she thinks that only happened because she was relentless in calling them.

“They blamed the DA’s office,” she says. Wisdom followed up with a call to the DA and was told they had received nothing from CCSO. They didn’t know anything about the case.

Out of sheer frustration, Wisdom called CCSO Sheriff Danny Sanchez, who said he, too, knew nothing about the situation and promised to call her back. Sanchez did as promised and explained that “the office had completed paperwork for the search warrant but did so on the wrong form, so he needs to redo it" and they were just "very ‘short staffed".

“He said they were short staffed several times,” Wisdom said. “He also said our case wasn’t a priority for them right now because they had other more serious crimes that had happened.”

Eventually, CCSO got a search warrant, called Wisdom to get the longitude and latitude of the property where they spotted their possessions and asked them to meet at the property. When the Wisdoms showed up, they learned that the suspect wasn’t home so deputies had served the warrant to one of his children – a son that Wisdom guessed to be about 11 or 12 years old..

By that time, Wisdom says roughly $35,000 of their property was gone.

Multiple frustrations continued after that. Even after the case went to court, CCSO has not provided the DA’s office with much needed evidence from the case.

The anger is clear in Wisdom’s voice, but she’s not just angry for herself.

“Drive around out here. You’ll see all sorts of places that are boarded up.” She says her closest neighbor, who only comes in the summer, is going to find that his little camper has been vandalized, destroyed and anything of value stolen.

Wisdom, who used to work for the courts, was incensed at the incompetence and lackadaisical attitude she observed at CCSO and wondered if she was the only one. So, she put a post on Facebook, asking if anyone else had the same experience and a story to share.

“I had 69 responses in the first two days.” The numbers have continued to increase.

The Valley Courier was provided with a list of stories she received, and what follows are just a few of the responses.  A name was attached to every comment below but, in respect for privacy, we are keeping these claims anonymous. The samples include the following.

“Robbery a year ago over $100,000 plus property damage of over $100,000. Sheriff did nothing.”

“I was told when our place got hit twice, unless they catch them in the act, there is little they can do or will do.  That came from the sheriff department.”

“We went out to check on our property and they stole our camper.  I had it chained from the axle to a 50 pound bag of concrete buried 5ft under it.  They also kicked in our door on our storage building and stole a bunch of supplies and gear.  Sheriff did nothing.”

“We had a little cabin and would come up once a month to move cows.  Our cabin was broken into 10 times. Nothing was ever done.” 

“Complaint against Costilla Sheriff for harassment and not prosecuting a case.” 

“It’s sad to say but the sheriff department will not do anything, they are corrupted and if you and your family are not originally from there, it will continue to happen and you will have no justice.” 

“They stole our camper and everything in it and around it.  We had to leave our land.`

“2020 theft Costilla County Sheriff didn’t provide information to the DA, case was dismissed, over $30,000.”

“Several years ago a friend bought a Quonset hut kit delivered on Friday and by Sunday only a few roof pieces were left.  She knew who did it but the sheriff dept said there was nothing they could do.  She lost over $60,000 because she couldn’t get insurance for a construction site.” 

What the comments don’t capture, Wisdom says, are the number of places where people have just given up and left, which opens the door to squatting and additional crime.

Once the case officially entered the judicial system, things did not improve. The DA’s office was repeatedly told they could not get bodycam footage from CCSO. There have been multiple delays and motions. As of this writing, the case is still slogging its way through the system.

After contacting the DA’s office, Wisdom learned that this was not a new issue between the DA and CCSO.  “I’m just one more example,” she says.

DA Anne Kelly, who has made several very concerning public statements about the efficiency and competence of the Costilla County Sheriff’s Office, is now taking the CCSO one step further with the following announcement.

“The District Attorney’s Office (“DA’s Office”) is hosting a discussion forum for the citizens of Costilla County regarding concerns the District Attorney’s Office is receiving regarding the Costilla County Sheriff’s Office.  The DA’s Office is hosting this forum in response to ongoing and frequent citizen reports of negative interactions with the Costilla County Sheriff’s Office.  The DA’s Office would like to discuss the efforts of the DA’s Office to investigate these reports and ensure the safety of Costilla County residents.  The DA’s Office encourages all Costilla County residents to attend this important forum.  The DA’s Office will have a virtual attendance option available for those who cannot travel to Alamosa.  Neither the Sheriff nor any of his deputies will be permitted to be present during this forum.     

“The forum will start at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 2, 2026 and will be held in the Justice Building at 8955 Independence Way.

“For those who need a virtual attendance option, please send provide your contact information to MEGAN BAGWELL at mbagwell@da12.state.co.us.”    

The Costilla County Sheriff could not be reached for comment prior to press time.