Armando Montano, AP news intern, found dead in Mexico City

Armando Montano, an aspiring young journalist who was working for The Associated Press as a news intern in Mexico City, Mexico, was found dead early on Saturday. He was 22-years-old. His body was found in the elevator shaft of an apartment building near where he was living in the capital’s Condesa neighborhood. The circumstances and causes of his death are currently under investigation and monitored by the U.S. embassy.

Montano, a Colorado Springs, Colorado resident, arrived in Mexico City in early June after receiving his bachelor’s degree in Spanish and a concentration in Latin American studies from Grinnell College. “Armando was a smart, joyful, hardworking and talented young man,” said Marjorie Miller, AP’s Latin America editor based in Mexico City. “He absolutely loved journalism and was soaking up everything he could,” Miller continued. “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.” Montano worked as a news intern for The New York Times, multimedia and reporting intern for The Colorado Independent, a reporting and investigative intern at The Seattle Times, and covered policy and finance for The Chronicle of Higher Education in Washington, D.C. A scholar student, Montano planned to attend the University of Barcelona in the fall to gain a master’s degree in journalism. He is survived by his parents, Diane Alters and Mario Montano, who both teach at Colorado College.