Police to ID body today

PORTALES — Portales police said they will know today the identity of a body found buried in a Portales back yard three days ago.

That information and the cause of death, Portales Police Capt. Lonnie Berry said, would be available this morning after completion of the autopsy.

“There’s not enough (in relation to) dental records to make a positive identification, so we’re going to have to go by fingerprints,” Berry said.

The department is unwilling to release specific information about the investigation because nobody has been charged with the death.

“(It’s frustrating) for us as well as everybody involved,” Berry said. “We’re holding off on any official notification to anybody.”

The body was found on the 700 block of N. Ave. J Friday afternoon, as officers came to make arrests on unrelated misdemeanor warrants.

Portales Mayor Orlando Ortega, reached Monday night in Albuquerque, opted not to offer an opinion on the matter. If the death is ruled as a homicide, it would be the first since 1998.