Body of missing dad found; took 3 sons on custodial visit and never returned them (Albuquerque, New Mexico)

Anybody remember a case from 2001, where father RICHARD ROBERT SANCHEZ took his 3 sons on a custody visit, and then never returned? It appears that what happened was a murder-suicide. The bodies of the three boys were identified last month. The father was identified recently.

A little digging shows that Dad was serious bad news. He was about to go to trial for raping his ex-wife's sister when he took off with his sons. The mother had been warned that if she ever left the dad, he "would make her life miserable."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,529872,00.html

Body Found in Submerged Car in New Mexico Lake Possibly Missing Father
Thursday, July 02, 2009

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A man whose body was found with those of three children in a car submerged in a New Mexico lake tentatively was identified as Richard Robert Sanchez of Albuquerque, who disappeared in August 2001 with his three young sons.

A spokeswoman for the state Office of the Medical Investigator, Amy Boule, says the OMI was releasing a presumptive identification of Sanchez based on the circumstances and the fact the car was his.

She says no dental records were located for Sanchez. The OMI sent samples to a lab for DNA testing, but Boule says results are not expected for months.

The children's remains were identified last month as those of Sanchez's sons.

Authorities say the father took the boys for a custody visit and never returned.

And here's more information on Sanchez:

http://www.helpfindthemissing.org/forum/showthread.php?p=618448

Missing man has troubled past
Posted at: 06/18/2009 10:26 PM
Updated at: 06/18/2009 11:09 PM

Looking at Richard Sanchezs record, Eyewitness News 4 found that he was about to go on trial for rape when he took off with his three sons in 2001.

According to Americas Most Wanted, back in 2000, Sanchez reportedly repeatedly raped his ex- wife's sister, in front of her five-year-old son.

Sanchez went on the run, but later turned himself into police. He was indicted on rape and child abuse charges, but bonded out of jail.

While waiting for trial, detectives think Sanchez panicked, realizing he would probably go to prison.

A few months later, police say he kidnapped his three sons, Richard Jr., Daniel and Christopher, and was never seen again.

During an interview with Eyewitness News 4 in October, 2001, Susana Sanchez, the mother of the three boys, had this to say to Sanchez: "Please bring them home. They have their family here and their school, they have a life here."

Back then, Susana Sanchez found out police made a mistake she thinks may have hurt the case. While police had her ex-husband's name in a national crime database, the kidnapping charges and the names of her three children were not entered in that database.

"They were never entered into the computer showing that they were missing, so that is very frustrating," she said in 2001.

She felt that oversight may have allowed her husband to stay on the run longer. She later hired a private investigator.

Americas Most Wanted's Web site has a profile of Richard Sanchez with some other cryptic details.

Under habits, it says he liked to go fishing with his sons. It also says he has a tattoo of the grim reaper on his left leg.

Susana Sanchez says her ex-husband once told her if she ever left him, he would make her life miserable.