Overview
- Deputies in Quay County located the Lightfoots on Dec. 2 after a tip led them to an inoperable car in a tree line on a ranch west of Tucumcari.
- The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator has the remains and estimates autopsy reports will take about three months to finalize.
- Authorities say the investigation remains active as they piece together the couple’s route and circumstances before their deaths.
- Relatives say the pair likely became disoriented on the return to Lubbock and had left their cell phone at home.
- The search spanned multiple agencies, including a Texas Silver Alert and aerial efforts in New Mexico, before the couple, ages 81 and 82, were found.