she confirmed that that looked like a femur bone and i should call the authorities. >> reporter: finding a bone, even a human bone, is not unusual out here on albuquerque's west mesa. this is storied territory, where native american tribes, conquistadors, and cowboys once roamed. the bone could easily have belonged to one of them. but the police who arrived at the scene shortly after nightfall soon determined that this was no ancient artifact. this bone belonged to someone who had died in the not too distant past. >> february 2nd is when one of our violent crimes detectives said oh, they found a bone on the mesa, i'll let you know. >> tonight they say the search is far from over. >> i saw it on tv on february 2nd, when christina ross and her dog ruca was reported on the local station as finding a femur bone.