Two bodies found in parked truck along I-40
Discovery made by officer dealing with crash involving radioactive material
Two unusual, but unrelated, incidents on Interstate 40 west of Albuquerque kept traffic backed up and law enforcement busy for much of Thursday.
Around 7 a.m., police say, a driver hauling hazardous, radioactive materials into the city fell asleep behind the wheel, rolling the semitrailer truck about 30 miles west of Albuquerque.
Two hours later, an officer directing traffic for the crash stumbled upon a man and woman dead inside a pickup truck with a camper shell, stopped on the side of the highway.
New Mexico State Police say there is no reason to believe the two incidents are related, and the area wasn’t contaminated from the radioactive materials.
However, they are investigating the deaths as suspicious.
“Right now, the cause of death is still
something we’re looking into,” said Lt. Elizabeth Armijo. “It does not appear to be from natural causes.”
Armijo said that around 9 a.m. an officer was providing traffic control about six miles from the crash when he spotted a blue Dodge pickup with an Alabama license plate stopped on the eastbound shoulder of Interstate 40 near N.M. 6.
When he checked inside, he found a man and a woman who were dead. Armijo said she could not say if the pair were in the camper or in the front seat.
“New Mexico State Police Investigations Bureau has been called to the scene to conduct an investigation,” Armijo said. “The identities of the deceased are still being determined.”
She said the Office of the Medical Investigator will determine when and how the two died.
Traffic was limited to one lane on eastbound Interstate 40 while police investigated the deaths into the afternoon.
Traffic was already been backed up in the area due to the semitrailer crash earlier in the morning.
Although the semitrailer rolled over, the radioactive material, Cesium-137, did not spill, Armijo said. She said the Albuquerque Fire Department assisted State Police with investigating whether the material — which is used in medical and industrial devices and gauges — was intact.
“An inspection was conducted, and the material was deemed to be secure and undamaged and not a threat to the public,” Armijo said. “The material was off-loaded and then transported onto another vehicle.”
The driver was cited for careless driving, and the semitrailer truck was towed from the scene.