Portales mother fears son's remains in burned vehicle

PORTALES - Carol Morgan is still hoping her missing son will come home. But she fears it was his remains found last week inside the trunk of a burned vehicle in Roosevelt County.

"I wish he would walk through the door," she told The News on Monday of her son Kristopher Morgan, 43, who has been missing since Sept. 27. "But I know my son wouldn't just go missing."

Morgan said she went to her son's house on Wednesday evening and was approached by law enforcement officers. The 9th Judicial District's Major Crimes Unit was activated earlier that same day, although officials have still declined to identify the precise timing or location of their grisly discovery.

"I stayed in my vehicle and rolled down the window and (an officer) came to my car, and I said, 'Officer, this is kind of a God moment, because I am kind of worried about my son. I would like to make a missing person report.' ... And they said they found remains..."

Morgan declined to say what kind of vehicle her son drove or if it matched the burned vehicle investigators discovered last week. Roosevelt County Sheriff Malin Parker said last week that the incident was being investigated as "suspicious," but has declined to answer additional questions.

Parker on Monday said he had no additional information.

District Attorney Andrea Reeb said Monday that she was not aware of any charges or arrests filed in the case.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Brian Stover told The News on Saturday that search warrants were being filed on individuals, residences and vehicles but that they were also being sealed in the interest of protecting the investigation.

"The timing of the discovery of the vehicle is a critical piece of the investigation at this point, and so as we're eliminating suspects and talking to suspects, I can't divulge more," Stover told The News.

Morgan told The News on Monday that she "doesn't have any proof that it was (her son)." Officials have declined to say how long it might take for positive forensic identification of physical remains.

Morgan said she last heard from her son by phone on Sept. 23, and that nothing seemed amiss. Since his job in the past 15 months with a Roosevelt County trucking service had him working nights and sleeping days during the week, she wasn't excessively concerned until trying to contact him Sept. 27.