TAOS, N.M. —

After leaving the military, Matthew McLaughlin moved to New Mexico "to get a fresh start," his mother says.

Now, Rebecca McLaughlin and her teenage daughter, Kayla, are in New Mexico trying to find out where Matthew is and what may have happened to him.

After some months back in Virginia, Matthew and his puppy moved to Taos with two friends he served with in the Army, one of whom was from New Mexico. Matthew got a job at the Chili Line Depot, where he became close to a young woman.

A phone call from that woman on July 31 was the first Rebecca heard that something was amiss with her son.

"She had told me that she had tried reaching Matthew that Saturday, calling his phone because he didn't show up for work, which is unusual," Rebecca said. "So she called his roommate, and

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