ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - The Latest on the deaths of two New Mexico sisters and their three young daughters (all times local):
1:45 p.m.
Tribal officials with the Native American community in New Mexico where two sisters and their three young daughters were found dead say they are dismayed and saddened by the discovery of the five bodies.
Federal authorities say the bodies were found over the course of three days after the women and children were first reported missing. Initial reports indicated the women might have been in danger, but the FBI says there’s no indication of foul play.
Investigators are awaiting preliminary autopsy results.
Officials at Santa Ana Pueblo said Wednesday that the victims are not tribal members or affiliated with the pueblo in any way.
They say it’s unclear how or why the women found their way onto pueblo land.
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12:42 p.m.
Federal investigators in New Mexico are trying to piece together the final moments of two sisters and their children who were found dead on tribal land just days after authorities issued an alert that they were missing and might be in danger.
The FBI on Wednesday was waiting for preliminary autopsy reports on the five bodies found in a remote area on the western edge of Santa Ana Pueblo.
FBI spokesman Frank Fisher said investigators believe the bodies are that of sisters Vanessa and Leticia George and their three young daughters.
Relatives have set up an online fundraising page, saying they’re going through “an unbearable loss.”
Despite initial concern that the women might be in danger, the FBI says foul play by another party isn’t suspected. Fisher declined to provide any more details.
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