DEN84FA076

The plt took off at night in the company of plts flying 2 other acft, a Cessna 150 & a Piper PA-22. N719K, a Beech A36 bonanza, was flying ahead of the other 2 acft. The plt of 1 of the other acft stated that the bonanza plt would usually fly at a slower airspeed when in the company of slower acft. He could see the bonanza's position lights, but could not tell whether the plt might have left the gear or flaps extended. Subsequently, the bonanza crashed on level, dry, hard packed, desert terrain aprx 10 mi north of Columbus, NM, while traveling southbound. Mountains were located just north of the crash site. An exam of the wreckage revealed the acft had impacted in a slight nose low, left wing low attitude with the gear extended. No fuel was found in the fuel tanks, but there was extensive damage to the acft. The plts of the 3 acft were using the same radio freq, but no calls were received from the bonanza plt. The night was moonless; the area north of Columbus was described as a 'black hole' on dark nights.