PI offers free help in bones mystery

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Albuquerque Police and the Office of the Medical Investigator are still working to identify eight of the 13 skeletons found buried on Albuquerque's West Mesa.

Now, a private investigator is offering free help to people who wonder if a missing member of their family might be one of the unknown eight.

The investigator said families can get answers by giving police what they need to make a positive identification, and he's going to help them do that.

"We saw all the bodies found, we have several missing persons cases of young ladies that age and our clients were calling us, saying could our loved ones be there," Dr. George Walker said.

Walker put an ad in the paper last week, offering help for free to any family who believes their missing friend or relative could be one of the bodies found in the mesa.

He's gotten 10 calls so far, five of which he believes have potential ties to the West Mesa crime scene.

"A lot of parents have DNA samples in their homes that they're not aware of," Walker said. "Old brushes belong to loved one though of no use, sitting in your house, but if they have hair follicles you can identify people through DNA."

Walker wants to help families gather that DNA to hand over to police. He said he'll also work to track down dental records—even if that means tracking a dentist who has moved out of state.

Walker said he felt he had to do something.

"You miss 100 percent of chances you don't take, so we want to be able to take that shot," he said.

Another good thing for concerned families is to gather photographs of the missing person wearing their favorite jewelry. Sometimes jewelry is found with the remains.

Walker said he will help as many families as he can.