The charges split between a human remains inquiry and a force complaint involving a man in crisis.
SAN LUIS, Colo. — A grand jury has indicted former Costilla County Sheriff Danny Sanchez and four current or former officers, accusing them in separate cases of mishandling human remains and using unlawful force on a man during a mental health crisis.
The indictments have shaken a small sheriff’s office in southern Colorado that had just seven law enforcement officers before the charges were announced. The cases reach into two of the most basic duties in policing, handling evidence and using force, and they have already forced Sanchez from office, put other officers on leave and pushed county leaders to bring in outside help to keep patrols running while the court cases move forward.
The public fallout moved fast, even though the allegations stretch back months. Court records say the human remains case began on Oct. 2, 2024, when a resident reported finding a skull, teeth with dental work and other remains near Wild Horse Mesa. The second case grew from a Feb. 3, 2026, encounter at a home on County Road K.5 involving a man deputies believed was in crisis. A 12th Judicial District grand jury returned the indictments March 26, and District Attorney Anne Kelly announced them the next day, saying she would not ignore “violations of the trust” placed in police. By late Friday, Sanchez had resigned. On Monday, Costilla County commissioners held a special meeting and appointed Deputy Joe Smith as interim sheriff, shifting the county from scandal into emergency management of its own law enforcement agency.
The remains case centers on what investigators say happened after Nicholas Younghans reported the discovery. According to Sanchez’s indictment, Younghans said he photographed the scene, marked the location and notified the sheriff’s office after finding what appeared to be a skull, human teeth and other remains on his property near Wild Horse Mesa. Court records say Sanchez and former Deputy Keith Schultz responded but took only the skull and left other remains behind, including teeth later seen in Younghans’ photos. Investigator Michael Martinez told the grand jury that the sheriff’s office did not complete a full follow-up search and that Schultz did not finish a report until Dec. 31, 2024, nearly two months after the initial response. The indictment also says the skull eventually reached Deputy Coroner Carlos De Leon in a used paper grocery bag with no label, seal or documented chain of custody. Public court records do not identify the deceased person, and the cause and manner of death have not been released.
The second case describes a long, tense encounter that ended outside the sheriff’s office in San Luis. Soto’s indictment says deputies were called after a man reported that his wife had left with their children. When officers got there, witnesses said, the man stood at his gate with a razor-edged hunting arrow to his neck and made statements that were suicidal in nature. Court records say deputies spent about two hours speaking with him and told him they did not plan to arrest him or take him to a hospital. They then persuaded him to go to the sheriff’s office, in part to discuss possible work as a jail deputy. Once there, the indictment says, the man tried to leave and was walking away while unarmed and not acting aggressively. Body camera evidence summarized in the filing says Deputy Roland Riley and Sgt. Caleb Sanchez unholstered Tasers, gave chase and fired, with Caleb Sanchez deploying his device twice. The man later told investigators he was “tased and roughed up,” and medical records reviewed by prosecutors showed at least one fractured rib.
Those allegations land hard in Costilla County because the sheriff’s office is small, the county is remote and residents often rely on a short list of local officers they know by name. Before the indictments, the office had seven law enforcement officials. After the charges, local officials said only a handful of deputies were untouched by the investigation, and one of them soon resigned, deepening the staffing gap. Commissioner Steven Romero said the moment was “very painful” for the county, reflecting both the shock of the charges and the reality that routine policing still had to continue. The county has since turned to the Colorado State Patrol, Blanca Town Police and other partners for backup on patrols and life-safety calls. The broader damage is not only about possible criminal liability for individual officers. It is also about whether residents can trust a department accused in one case of losing evidence tied to human remains and in another of using force against a vulnerable person without the timely reporting and review that such an incident would normally require.
The charges now divide into separate court tracks. Sanchez and Schultz each face one count of abuse of a corpse and four counts of second-degree official misconduct in the remains case. Soto faces nine counts in the force case, including failure to intervene, failure to report use of force, third-degree assault and official misconduct. Caleb Sanchez and Riley each face second- and third-degree assault charges. Kelly said all five men turned themselves in after the indictments were filed. County officials said Soto, Caleb Sanchez and Riley were removed from normal duty status while the county reviews possible policy violations, and Schultz was already a former deputy. Like all criminal defendants, the five officers are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. Prosecutors have also scheduled a public meeting for 6 p.m. Thursday at the Alamosa County Courthouse to hear from Costilla County residents, while additional hearings in the criminal cases are expected later this month.
At the same time, county leaders are trying to show that the office can still function. Smith, who took the oath Monday, said, “At no point has there been, or will there be, a failure to serve,” as the county works to formalize longer-term agreements with outside agencies. He also said he was starting a “Day One” plan built around stabilizing operations, reviewing internal affairs procedures and rebuilding accountability inside the office. Kelly said the transition has been a whirlwind and described the sheriff’s office as being in disarray when outside officials stepped in to help. She said Smith has been asking the right questions and reaching out to the right resources. The scene now is one of overlap between criminal prosecution and day-to-day government: a courthouse preparing for hearings, a district attorney’s office helping steady a battered department and residents waiting to see whether the charges mark a one-time collapse or the start of a longer public reckoning in a county where law enforcement is both highly visible and hard to replace.
As of Wednesday night, Smith was leading the office, outside agencies were still helping with patrols, and the indictments remained pending. The next public milestone is Kelly’s community meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday in Alamosa, with further court proceedings expected as the two cases move deeper into district court.
Author note: Last updated April 1, 2026.