Dental records may help identify bodies

COCHITI LAKE, N.M. (KRQE) - Medical investigators may use dental records to identify four bodies found in a car at Cochiti Lake on Thursday.

Investigators on Thursday were searching for a pickup that had rolled into the lake when they discovered the car, a sedan, and four sets of skeletal remains inside.

State police said the car matches a car involved in a 2001 missing persons' case out of Albuquerque, and they're working to confirm whether it's related or not.

To do that, according to a doctor with the Office of the Medical Investigator, they'll likely need to use dental records because the remains are so badly decomposed.

Lt. Eric Garcia with state police said there was a child restraint in the back seat.

In the 2001 case, Richard Sanchez and his three boys went missing after he picked them up for a custody visit.

He had been accused of raping a family member, using a stun gun and fork on the victim. He was wearing a monitoring bracelet, but police believe he had cut it off shortly before he went missing.