ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Five bodies have been found on a Native American pueblo on the outskirts of Albuquerque, believed to be two missing sisters and their three children, but authorities said Tuesday that foul play wasn’t suspected in the deaths.
The bodies of a child and an adult woman were found Tuesday on the Santa Ana Pueblo, said Frank Fisher, a spokesman for the FBI in Albuquerque.
Another woman’s body was located Sunday in a rugged area of the Santa Ana Pueblo, and two children’s bodies were discovered Monday in the same area.
Fisher said the recovered bodies appear to be two women and three children listed Saturday in an Albuquerque Police Department missing person’s bulletin.
“Autopsies are pending to determine the cause of each death, but foul play by another party is not suspected at this time,” Fisher said in a statement Tuesday night, adding that the Office of the Medical Investigator will attempt to identify the bodies.
Authorities have said sisters Vanessa George, 25, and Leticia George, 20, of Albuquerque were missing, along with Vanessa George’s two children — 4-year-old Zoe Becenti and 1-year-old Chloe Becenti — plus Leticia George’s 1-year-old daughter.
Fisher said the body found Sunday in a rugged area on the Pueblo has been identified by relatives as Leticia George.
A white pickup truck with front-end damage was found abandoned in the area where the bodies were discovered, but Fisher wouldn’t speculate if the victims died of exposure.
“That’s part of the investigation going on,” he said. “We want to see the autopsy results.”
The Albuquerque police flyer described Vanessa George as endangered and missing with her children. It also said she was the victim of domestic violence by her estranged boyfriend who was the father of her two children.
Court records show the man pleaded not guilty after being charged Dec. 29 with battery against a household member. The police flier said he was released from jail the next day.
The man was interviewed and said he last saw the missing people Thursday on the pueblo north of Albuquerque, according to the flier. He doesn’t have a listed telephone number.
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