Armando Montano Death: AP Summer Intern Found Dead in Mexico City
CBS news is reporting that Armando Montano, a news intern for the Associated Press in Mexico City, was found dead Saturday in the apartment building elevator shaft near his home in the Mexican capital. Montano was 22 years old.
According to the report, Montano, a Grinnell College graduate, arrived Mexico City in early June after earning his bachelor’s degree in Spanish and a concentration in Latin American studies.
The causes of the Colorado Springs resident’s death are unknown and the U.S. Embassy there is monitoring the investigation. Montano was not working on an assignment at the time of his death, the AP noted.
While with the Associated Press, Armando covered a number of stories including the saga of nine young elephants from Namibia who wound up on an animal reserve in Mexico’s Puebla state, and the shooting of three federal policemen at the Mexico City airport.
“He absolutely loved journalism and was soaking up everything he could,” said Marjorie Miller, AP’s Latin America editor based in Mexico City. “In his short time with the AP, he won his way into everyone’s hearts with his hard work, his effervescence and his love of the profession.”
Prior to joining the AP, Montano interned a several other well reputable new organizations including The New York Times, The Colorado Independent and The Seattle Times.
He also worked as an editor and writer for the Scarlet & Black, Grinnell College’s student newspaper in Grinnell, Iowa.
“Mando was a standout young journalist, with a rare passion and exuberance for life and for people,” said Richard Berke, an assistant managing editor at The New York Times. “He accomplished so much and touched so many in a short time, and his potential was truly limitless.”
CBS reports that Armando Montano had planned to attend a master’s degree program in journalism at the University of Barcelona in the fall.
He is survived his parents, Diane Alters and Mario Montano, of Colorado Springs, who both teach at Colorado College.
