State Police investigators have identified both bodies found in a burned-out vehicle in the early morning hours of Feb. 28 and are treating both deaths as homicides.
Dead are 25-year-old Joey Maestas, of El Duende, and 27-year-old Sarah Salazar, of Española, State Police spokesman Lt. Eric Garcia said. Their bodies were found inside a burning 2000 Honda Accord parked at a rest stop off of Highway 285 near Ojo Caliente after the Auga Sana Fire Department extinguished the fire at about 4 a.m. Maestas was identified on March 4 and Salazar on Monday.
Maestas’ step father J.R. Padilla said the news from the officers simply confirmed what the family already knew.
“It was a little sad,” he said. “But what can you do, you know?”
State Police Sgt. Chris Valdez said the two victims were not a couple and that Salazar had a live-in boyfriend named Wally Martinez. He would not provide further details and did not return subsequent calls seeking more information.
Beyond declaring the deaths homicides and identifying each victim, State Police have released little information about the case. Agents are speaking through Garcia, who had no information about who Salazar was or how she knew Maestas. He called them simply “known acquaintances” without giving more details.
Padilla said police have not been speaking to the family, either. He said he did not know who Salazar was or how his step-son knew her.
“I haven’t heard nothing,” Padilla said.
Garcia said there are no suspects in the case, but there are people of interest that State Police are questioning. Police have served two search warrants connected to the case, but these were sealed when the returns were filed with the court, Garcia said. This means these records are not open to the public and it is not possible to find out who or what was searched until a judge unseals the information.
Garcia said the deaths were confirmed through the state Office of the Medical Investigator. Staff there did not return a call seeking comment and Garcia would not say how the Office identified the reportedly badly-burned bodies. Family members of Maestas said last week State Police officers were requesting items such as Maestas’ toothbrush to collect DNA for identification purposes.
Police are asking anyone with information related to the case to call State Police barracks 753-2277.
Maestas’ obituary states he leaves behind two children and a fiancé. A memorial service is scheduled for Wednesday (3/9) at 7 p.m. at Victory Faith Church in Española. A second service is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday (3/10) at El Buen Pastor Church in Ranchitos.