04:02 PM PDT on Saturday, July 2, 2005

By TERESA BELL, kgw.com Staff

ESTACADA, Ore. -- The step-grandmother of a missing Milwaukie boy led police to the four-year-old's lifeless body in the woods off Highway 211 near Estacada Saturday morning, police said.

kgw.com photo/Child Seek Network

Matel Zachery Sanchez.

When asked how investigators believe Matal Zachary Sanchez died, officer Kevin Krebs with the Milwaukie Police Department would only say "his cause of death was homicidal violence, an autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow."

Matal has been missing since Wednesday. His mother said the last time she saw him was around 3 p.m. at their home in Milwaukie, some 25 miles away from where police found the body four days later.

“His body was found in a densely forested area on BLM land, approximately three or four miles southeast of Estacada... approximately 75 feet off a roadway," Krebs said.

Matal lived with his mother, Laura Acevedo, and his step-grandmother, Christine Coffman. Acevedo initially told police she thought Coffman took Matel on an errand with her on Wednesday afternoon, but Coffman, 45, claimed she had left without the boy.

KGW

A tow truck hooks the step-grandmother's vehicle up, to take it to a police holding area.

However, police were apparantly suspicious of Coffman's story and decided to seize her car and search for clues Thursday.

The search effort expanded even more Friday, with police executing a search warrant at the family's home, at 6912 SE Daphne Court, and making an appeal to the public for information about the locations visited by a car driven by Coffman.

After three days of police questioning and investigating, Coffman confessed to officers late Friday night, Krebs said.

"She will be charged with his death and she'll have an initial court appearance on Tuesday," Krebs said.

When asked if Coffman was a suspect all along, Krebs told reporters during a news briefing Saturday “throughout the whole process that Matel has been missing, we have spoken with her and other members of the family. So we've always been in communication with all members of the family and that includes Ms. Coffman."

KGW Sky-8

Police investigate the wooded area near Estacada, where Matal Sanchez' body was found Saturday.

Matal's mother and step-father made an emotional appeal for the boy's safe return just the day before.

"We are desperate to find Matel and bring him home safely," Laura Acevedo told reporters as she wiped away tears from her eyes.

"We need to know that he is safe," added step-father Daniel Acevedo, who thanked people who offered support and helped with the search effort.

Coffman was absent from the family press conference.

Before zeroing in on the Estacada area, police had focused their search on a two-mile radius around Matal’s Milwaukie home, based on estimates of how far they thought he could have wandered.

Police said they also received some 125 tips from the public and reward money grew to $6,000.

The Milwaukie Police Department got help from the Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as search and rescue units from Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington Counties, Explorer Scouts and an Oregon Army National Guard helicopter crew during the multi-day search effort and investigation.