Unearthed remains are Michael Snyder

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – The remains found buried outside an Albuquerque home Thursday night have been identified as Michael Snyder and his former wife has been arrested for his murder.

Snyder vanished eight years ago. His remains were positively identified Friday after they were examined by the Office of the Medical Investigator.

A preliminary autopsy suggests that he was shot to death. Police said they've had the murder weapon since 2005.

Ellen Snyder, the victim's former wife, was arrested by police Friday afternoon, according to Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz.

The District Attorney's Office, working with Snyder's attorney, brokered her surrender. At 4:15 p.m. detectives were meeting with Snyder at her attorney's office and were expected to transport her to the Albuquerque Metropolitan Detention Center for booking.

Schultz said she faces numerous charges including an open count of murder. Her bond has been set at $1 million cash only.

The District Attorney's Office, working with Snyder's attorney, brokered her surrender. At 4:15 p.m. detectives were meeting with Snyder at her attorney's office and were expected to transport her to the Albuquerque Metropolitan Detention Center for booking.

"The detectives working this case never stopped," Schultz said, adding that the investigators continued to put pressure on people they believed to be involved in the case.

Schultz said there were three confidential informants involved with the investigation. Those did not include the suspect herself, although Schultz said her son, Michael Sheffield, had been cooperating with police in the last several days.

He told investigators that he was awoken eight years ago to the sound of gunfire and rushed to his parents' room, where he saw his stepfather on the floor.

Sheffield, who was 17 at the time, described his mother as a dissheveled and bloody mess. She told him to help her get rid of the body, he said.

He said he wrapped his stepfather's body in plastic bags and put him in the garage.

Two days later, he said, his mother hired someone with a backhole to dig a hole next to the house. They rolled his body into the ground, he said.

Whether he might face charges will be up to the district attorney, Schultz added.

Police also said the weapon Ellen Snyder allegedly used to kill her husband had been borrowed from a friend. She had told him she wanted it for protection from her husband, and returned it with no bullets a few months later.

The friend eventually gave the gun to police, thinking it was suspicious she borrowed a gun around the time Michael Snyder had vanished.

Snyder's mother told police that Snyder and his wife had been having marital problems that made him depressed, according to his missing persons report.

Snyder's mother and sister told investigators they were concerned for his safety and believed he may have been a victim of foul play.

After two and a half days of digging outside Snyder's former home in Albuquerque Acres, police unearthed his remains. They were wrapped in a tarp.

Police started searching for him on Tuesday after they received a tip that his body was buried near the home.

The initial dig for Snyder's body started under a six-car garage that was built by a later homeowner.

Investigators later realized that they had been digging in the wrong spot, moved the dig a few feet and quickly discovered the body.

Other than the body and the bullets recovered from it, no significant evidence was recovered from the grave, Schultz said. However the presence of the tarp and the other items quickly confirmed for investigators that they had a solid case, he added.

Investigators finished their work at the home Friday morning, filled in the makeshift grave and turned the property back to its current owner.

Snyder was last seen arguing with Ellen outside a Phoenix restaurant in 2002.

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Read the arrest warrant