Armando Montano, the Associate Press intern in the Mexico City bureau, was found dead Saturday in the apartment building elevator shaft near his home in the Mexican capital, according to the AP. He was 22 years old.
His death is being investigated by the Mexican authorities.
The Colorado Springs native graduated from Grinnell College this spring. He was planning to spend the summer in Mexico City before studying for a master's degree in journalism at the University of Barcelona in the fall.
Marjorie Miller, AP's Latin America editor based in Mexico City, told the AP, "Armando was a smart, joyful, hardworking and talented young man," Miller said. "He absolutely loved journalism and was soaking up everything he could."
While in Mexico City, Montano reported on the three federal officers who were shot in an airport.
The AP reports that Montano was not on assignment at the time of his death.