.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Three months after officers found an abandoned pickup splattered with blood and brain matter near the San Felipe Casino, investigators from the Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security found three bodies buried in a shallow grave, according to a spokesman from the sheriff’s office.

Lt. Keith Elder said the bodies, a woman and two men, were found on May 31 in a remote area about 12 miles southeast of the casino. They have not been officially identified but deputies believe their deaths may be related to an earlier homicide.

On March 1, deputies found an abandoned, stolen Ford F-150 truck near Hagen Road on the Diamond Tail Ranch, about six miles from the casino. Elder said at the time that “the amount of blood and the brain matter” led them to believe one or more persons had been killed or injured inside it.

A couple of weeks later Elder released surveillance photos showing several people believed to have been associated with the truck after it was reported stolen from northwest Albuquerque in late January.

Detectives chased leads all over the state, Elder said.

They recently identified three suspects in the case, two of whom are in custody on unrelated charges, although no charges have been filed yet in this case.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip

................................................................

Elder said they won’t charge the suspects until the Office of the Medical Investigator has identified the bodies.

A joint investigation, and interviews with one of the identified suspects, eventually led investigators to where the bodies were buried. New Mexico State Police and the Office of the Medical Investigator assisted with their recovery, Elder said.