Scientists tackle mystery of the bones

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Medical investigators continue to examine the skeletal remains discovered over the last two weeks on Albuquerque's West Mesa hoping to answer key questions for Albuquerque police.

The mystery deepened over the weekend with the discovery of more human bones at a subdivision site in southwest Albuquerque.

Investigators last week revealed some of the remains belong to Victoria Chavez, 23, a known prostitute who was last seen in 2003. But they have not yet been able to identify the remains of at least two more women.

That is now the job of the Office of the Medical Investigator.

"You can really learn an awful lot from human remains," Heather Edgar, a University of New Mexico biological anthropologist, told News 13.

Forensic pathologists can determine a person's age, sex and cause of death if the appropriate parts of a skeleton are collected, Edgar said.

"If you had a complete pelvis, and you had the appropriate training, you should be able to estimate the sex of the individual correctly about 90 percent of the time," she said pointing to casts of hip bones inside her lab at UNM's Maxwell Museum of Anthropology.

But things can get complicated when it comes to determining a person's cause of death.

"Sometimes you can, and sometimes you can't," Edgar said. "It really depends on how they died."

Bullet holes, stab marks and dents on the bones can identify how a person died, but that's not always the case, according to Edgar.

Albuquerque police still don't know how Chavez died. Medical investigators used dental records to identify her.

OMI's chief medical investigator told News 13 forensic pathologists continue to examine the remains and work closely with police, who will continue digging at the West Mesa site on Tuesday.