GUILTY NM - Frank Yazzie, 43, Gallup, June 2009

The top half has been identified as Frank Yazzie from Mentmore, N.M., a small town outside Gallup.

Yazzie does match the ID found in the pants of the bottom half of the body, but the McKinley County Sheriff's department cannot positively connect the bottom half to the top half until DNA results come back.

The McKinley County Sheriff's department is asking for the public's help. If you have seen Yazzie within the last couple of months, call the department's Crimestoppers number at 505-722-6161.

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2 arrested in Las Cruces in northwest N.M. death

LAS CRUCES — Las Cruces police have arrested a man and woman who were sought in the 2009 death of a man whose dismembered body was found near Gallup in northwestern New Mexico.

Police arrested 25-year-old Joshua "Casey" Yazzie and 22-year-old Danielle Yazzie on a McKinley County warrant Sunday.

They were booked into the Doña Ana County jail pending transfer to McKinley County.

The pair were sought in the June 2009 death of a 43-year-old Mentmore man, Frank Yazzie.

McKinley County authorities say kids found a trash bag with the upper portion of his body in late June, and people found another garbage bag with the bottom half about a week later.

Deputies say the torso had multiple stab wounds

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The Gallup Independent reports 54-year-old David Torrez appeared before state District Judge Grant Foutz this week. Defense attorney Stephen McIlwain told the judge that a mental evaluation determined Torrez was fit for trial.

Torrez faces murder and evidence tampering charges in the June 2009 death of Frank Yazzie, whose body was cut in half and found in two separate locations on Gallup's north side.

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