Founder and Media Liaison for the Family:

Michael H. Baughman

928-246-4856

Amancio, my brother and friend

My brother was dear to me, sometimes a scamp that caused me no end of grief as all brothers do, but down inside he was a generous and kind friend; always there to help me, defend me, comfort me.

Amancio was born in Sinaloa, Mexico; a small, dusty, quaint village where everyone knew everyone. He was the first and only male of three kids, and then came myself and then my sister. My mom tells me we moved from Sinaloa in 1986 to Los Angeles were Amancio went to elementary school. In 1990 the family moved to Yuma.

At Rancho Viejo Amancio discovered the advantages of being “the teacher’s pet.”  But that was the way of Amancio. He was always getting awards as being the best artist and best behaved. But like most kids with a serious passion, art! … Math and history suffered.

At Yuma High School, his passion for art evolved into another art form, dancing! That’s were he was really at home and excelled. All the girls wanted him to be in their dance group. But again, with all the glamour and success in the arts, his old nemesis, math and history rose their ugly little heads; He almost flunked them.

Amancio spent allot of time in his room creating posters, making pictures frames, re-arranging his room, fussing with his clothes and ... he was always so comfortable with himself. Amancio was very clever at making ceramic dolls, which all the kids, cousins and uncles found fascinating. But like all teenagers, he found ways to be a bit naughty. One time he went over to his friends house and they all went out to a local teen hang out to dance were Spanish music could almost puncture ones eardrums. Of course mom and dad did not know about it. While there, dad came into the club and did a double take. “That’s my son!” My dad then went over and handed Amancio some money and told him to have a good time.

Many days and nights we could here him jumping up and down practicing dance moves in his room making such a racket with his music, you’d think the house was coming down around us; little did we know then it was the beginnings of his performing career. The first time I began to notice he was “dressing up” was when he started to sneak some of my clothes … a black bra and back leather jacket which I had bought and had not seen for months.

His first “official” performance as a female impersonator was in 2000, in San Luis, Mexico. From that moment on, he always made an impression and you just knew he would be a star someday.

He started cosmetology school around this time. What a perfect fit for him. Of course I was his “genie pig” when he first started learning. One time he cut off a chunk of my hair and when he used to do my nails, eek, they were all uneven. It wasn’t long though before he was being recognized for his talent, always taking first place at make-up competitions. Doing hair was not his favorite thing! But wow, how he could make you look beautiful and feel better inside with just a touch of make-up.

He moved to Phoenix in late 2003 and I joined him about a year later. Amancio felt he would have a better chance to become the person of beauty that lived inside him in a larger city. He used to perform on weekends and soon found a place at Dilliard’s as a cosmologist “shocking” the customers with his charm, excitement, and the transformation they experienced. People always felt better when they left his station. He was marvelous making people feel better about them selves.

In 2005, mom wanted us to come home and it seemed to be a wonderful idea. Little did we know, two days later detectives would be knocking on our door. I remember thinking to my self at the time, “What silly thing did he get himself into?” Then those fearful words came out of the officer’s mouth, speaking to my mom, “We found your son’s body this morning.”

~Faviola