Found bones are three women

ALBUQUERQUE - The search for human remains at a West Mesa construction site yielded the bones of three women and a deepening mystery for Albuquerque police.

The search began after a woman walking her dog found a single bone outside a subdivision construction site on Sen. Dennis Chavez Boulevard SW near 118th Street. It turned out to be the bone of a woman, and after a week of police work, investigators now say they now have the remains of three women.

The bones of two have been scattered throughout 100 acres of land graded and ready to be developed.

The remains of a third were found in a shallow grave, and dental records have identified her as an Albuquerque woman missing since 2003, according to police.  Her name has not been released as investigators attempt to contact her family.

Police said it is too soon to suggest that the bones are the remains of three female victims of a serial killer. It's even too soon to use the word murder, as investigators have not determined the cause of deaths.

"We've come to believe this was the same individual who placed all these remains in this same area," Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz said. “That's what we believe right now.”

Before new homes and a high school lined the West Mesa neighborhood, the land was remote desert crisscrossed by a few dirt roads. Schultz said the person who buried the women there knew the area before development.

Investigators plan a major excavation of the area to determine if additional remains are there.