Body found behind McDonald’s ID’d as Taos artist

New Mexico State Police have positively identified the body found behind McDonalds in Taos on Oct. 2 as that of Alan Heuer, a 63-year-old Taos artist.

His body was discovered behind the fast-food restaurant on Paseo del Pueblo Sur in Taos in the morning hours of Oct. 2.

NMSP initially reported that Heuer had “been taken to the Office of the Medical Investigator for an autopsy,” but confirmed Tuesday (Oct. 12) that Heuer's skull “was detached from his body.” Soriano said he could not confirm whether the removal of the head was a result of “intentional human decapitation” or if the remains may have been at some point disturbed “by animals postmortem.”

Heuer was a local artist who painted bright and lively scenes of the Southwest. According to an article from Coloradomagazineonline.com, Heuer relocated to Taos from New York City in 2000. In the article, he called himself a “Taos post-modernist” painter.

In 2006, Heuer won the “Taos Meets Taos” Best Representational Painting category at the Taos Fall Arts Festival. He told Colorado Magazine Online that his goal as an artist was to “communicate, de-mystify, clarify, share and realize (in paint on canvas) the controlled, colored chaotic abstraction of reality.”

The investigation into Heuer's death remains ongoing “as Investigations Bureau agents continue to gather any and all relevant evidence, interviews, and information,” added Soriano.

As of press time Wednesday, NMSP could not provide any additional details.