Mother of 3 slain boys prayed for closure

REOPENED... THEY'D BEEN MISSING FOR ALMOST EIGHT YEARS. BUT NOW AN ALBUQUERQUE MOTHER CAN FIN...  More »

REOPENED... THEY'D BEEN MISSING FOR ALMOST EIGHT YEARS. BUT NOW AN ALBUQUERQUE MOTHER CAN FINALLY LAY HER THREE YOUNG SONS TO REST. THEIR BODIES WERE FOUND IN A MUDDY CAR PULLED FROM COCHITI LAKE THIS MONTH. SUSANA ESCAMILLA SAYS SHE'S WONDERED SINCE AUGUST 2001 WHAT HAPPENED TO HER SONS -- RICHARD, DANIEL, AND CHRISTOPHER. TODAY VALERIE CASTRO SPOKE WITH ESCAMILLA IN HER FIRST T-V INTERVIEW SINCE LEARNING OF THE DEATHS OF HER SONS. . SHE'S HERE LIVE WITH THE DETAILS IN OUR TOP STORY. VALERIE? JOE AS YOU CAN IMAGINE THE OUTCOME OF THIS STORY HAS BEEN VERY DIFFICULT FOR SUSANA ESCAMILLA AND HER FAMILY. THEY SAY EVEN THOUGH THEY NOW HAVE SOME CLOSURE, THIS IS WAS NEVER THE ENDING THEY EXPECTED. 'It's been a nightmare...it's just hard to explain.' SUSANA ESCAMILLA SAYS SINCE THE DAY HER SONS DISAPPEARED WITH HER EX-HUSBAND, RICHARD SANCHEZ, SHE HAS ALWAYS HOPED THAT THEY WOULD BE FOUND ALIVE. 'Yeah i kept looking because not one day went by that i didn't think about them.''She was praying, she prayed to god, please give me a sign, give me some closure.' RICHARD JUNIOR, DANIEL AND CHRISTOPHER SANCHEZ WERE LAST SEEN IN 2001 WHEN THEIR FATHER PICKED THEM UP FOR A CUSTODY VISIT -- ESCAMILLA HAD FILED FOR DIVORCE WHEN SANCHEZ WAS ACCUSED OF RAPING ANOTHER WOMAN. HE WAS OUT OF JAIL BUT FACING SEVERAL YEARS IN PRISON FOR THE RAPE. ESCAMILLA SAYS SHE THOUGHT SANCHEZ WANTED TO SPEND SOME EXTRA TIME WITH HIS SONS BEFORE HIS SENTENCING DATE. 'I thought maybe he was just going to take them for a last weekend to go fishing or just to spend that time with them and when he didn't show up later that evening sunday, is when I started to worry because he was supposed to be back.'ESCAMILLA SAYS WHEN SANCHEZ'S CAR WAS FOUND IN COCHITI LAKE EARLIER THIS MONTH WITH THE BOYS'BODIES INSIDE SHE SAYS IT ALMOST BROUGHT HER SOME PEACE OF MIND -- BUT NOT QUITE. 'Its' some closure, but it's not the closure we wanted, it's hard thinking about how they went, it really is, i have no idea my god my youngest was only two, he was still strapped in his car seat.'SUSANA AND HER FAMILY SAY THEY PLAN TO VISIT COCHITI LAKE WHERE THE BOYS WERE FOUND AND FLOAT A WREATH OUT ON THE WATER. COMING UP TONIGHT AT TEN WE'LL HEAR MORE ABOUT SUSANA AND HER FAMILY AND WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT THE MAN WHO ACCIDENTALLY STUMBLED UPON THE CAR IN THE LAKE. JOE, BACK TO YOU. FUNERAL PLANS ARE SET FOR THE SANCHEZ BROTHERS... A MEMORIAL FOR RICHARD, DANIEL, AND CHRISTOPHER SANCHEZ WILL BE HELD TOMORROW AT FOUR P-M AT FRENCH MORTUARY ON GOLF COURSE ROAD. A FUNERAL MASS WILL BE HELD MONDAY AT TEN A-M AT THE SAINT THERESE LITTLE FLOWER CHURCH. AUTHORITIES SUSPECT THE FOURTH BODY FOUND IN THE CAR PULLED FROM COCHITI LAKE LAST WEEK IS THE FATHER OF THE BOYS -- RICHARD SANCHEZ -- WHO TOOK THE BOYS FOR A WEEKEND VISIT IN  « Less