Couple found dead in Fort Sumner

A husband and wife have been found dead outside their home in rural De Baca County, and state police are investigating the case as a double homicide.

Agapito Lucero, 55, and his wife, Margaret Lucero, 48, were found dead Thursday morning on Cottonwood Drive in the valley just outside of Fort Sumner, state police said.

The bodies were found in the morning by a family member outside their residence, State Police Capt. Oscar Gonzales said. Police obtained a search warrant for the residence and began processing the crime scene in the afternoon, he said.

Gonzales would not release any information about how the couple died, and said they knew of no motive at this time. He also said there were no suspects.

“We still have agents on the scene continuing to process,” Gonzales said late Thursday, adding that they would probably be there through the night.

Crime scene investigators from Roswell and Las Cruces traveled to Fort Sumner to process the crime scene.

Gonzales said they had information suggesting the homicides occurred Thursday morning.

A press release from the state police said the bodies are being sent to the Office of the Medical Investigator in Albuquerque.

Fort Sumner Mayor Raymond Lopez said a tragedy like this affects the entire town. He said there are only about 1,600 people living in Fort Sumner, and about 2,200 in De Baca County.

“Everybody knows everybody, and everybody’s concerned about everybody too. It’s a very tragic thing for us in our community to hear this,” he said. “We all suffer from ... a tragedy like this. It’s just a shock to everybody, I’m sure.”

Lopez said he knew the couple personally.

“They were good people,“ Lopez said. “Agapito (Lucero) himself was a very good, hardworking man. And she was a real nice young lady.”

Fort Sumner’s last homicide occurred in June.