Death probe leads to city body shop

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Investigators working back from human remains found in the Rio Grande last month spent the better part of Thursday combing through an auto body shop 50 miles away in southeast Albuquerque.

The body was found on Feb. 27 near Bernardo in Socorro County.  The person's identity and cause of death have not been released.

New Mexico State Police investigators say evidence found near the body led them to Red's Old School Hydraulics, an auto body shop near San Pedro Avenue SE and Zuni Road.

"It's still under investigation," State Police Sgt. Emmanuel Gutierrez told KRQE News 13. "That's why we're here looking, gathering evidence to make sure we're going in the right direction with this investigation."

Video captured from Sky News 13 showed piles of evidence investigators had to sift through from inside the garage on the property. However, officers say the real work won't begin until after sunset Thursday.

"The reason we need to stay here until the late hours when it's dark, that's when the equipment is vital to be used for looking for the evidence," Gutierrez added.

That equipment is specialized to zero in on DNA evidence. Investigators say everything is still in the early stages with no arrests and no suspects, but something was found near that body in Bernardo which has them to Albuquerque.

Detectives from Albuquerque Police Department and federal Drug Enforcement Administration are also helping out with the investigation. The State Police hopes to release more information in the coming days including the identity of the body.