Abduction suspect owned submerged car

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Investigators said the vehicle containing four sets of human remains found in Cochiti Lake belonged to the suspect of a 2001 child abduction case.

Albuquerque Police Spokesperson Nadine Hamby told News 13 that the Ford Taurus discovered in the water is registered to Richard Sanchez. Sanchez is the man accused of abducting his three sons during a weekend custody visit in 2001.

News 13 spoke to Christopher, Daniel and Richard Sanchez's mother two years after they disappeared.

"I love you guys and I've never stopped looking for you," Susana Sanchez said in 2003. "I just miss them so much."

Police said then that Sanchez's ex-husband and the boys' father,
Richard Sanchez, picked them up for a custody visit and then disappeared.

"I believe they were going through some kind of separation, possibly a divorce in 2001," Hamby said.

When the children went missing, Richard was 12, Daniel was 9 and Christopher was 2.

The discovery of Sanchez's car could be a break in the case, but it's still too early in the investigation to identify the remains found in the vehicle.

"We can't confirm that it is Mr. Sanchez or the children in the vehicle," Hamby said.

What she did confirm was that the Ford Taurus found in Cochiti Lake is in fact registered Sanchez.

APD originally investigated the possible abduction in 2001 and watched the case land with the U.S. Marshals.

Sanchez made the U.S. Marshals top wanted list, and garnered a spot on Fox's America's Most Wanted.

"Law enforcement is very interested in seeing his capture," Deputy U.S. Marshal Chris Daniel told News 13 in 2003.

Marshals considered Sanchez dangerous. He was on house arrest at the time of the disappearances after he'd been accused of raping his ex-wife's relative.

Investigators said he cut off his monitoring bracelet, which was supposed alert authorities if he ever left town.

Until the Office of the Medical Investigator releases the identities of the remains found in the submerged vehicle, the only certainty is who the car belongs to.