MORIARTY, N.M. (KRQE) – A New Mexico resident made a disturbing discovery when her dog returned home. The Torrance County Sheriff’s Department says the dog was carrying what appears to be a human body part.
The homeowner found the body part around 11:30 a.m. Thursday at her residence near Route 41, on Belgian Street. She immediately recognized the item as a body part and called the sheriff’s department. In turn, they spent the afternoon searching for the body the part belongs to.
“We’re looking for any other remains or disturbed earth, anything suspicious. Obviously this is in an area that’s very isolated,” said Torrance County Sheriff Heath White.
The grid search covered about a half mile of ground. That search ended in the early afternoon after nothing else was found.
The body part was taken by the Office of the Medical Investigator and is now being tested to confirm that it is human. If that test comes back positive, a much larger search will be conducted in the area.
Neighbors say they’re not that surprised to hear about remains being found out here because they know some people may consider this is a good place to dump a body.
“If you want somebody to be, just dump them out here, and a lot of times, I guess, the vultures would get it before anybody else would,” said Alan Carlson.
It’s not clear how long this body part was out in the elements but the sheriff says it’s clear it’s not fresh. It also doesn’t appear to be part of ancient remains either, something that is found pretty regularly in New Mexico. He says he’ll leave it up to OMI to figure that timeline out.
Once they know more they can determine if they have a murder, or something else on their hands.
The homeowner didn’t want to talk on camera. She told deputies her dog does have a habit of bringing back strange things, but never anything like this before.