KINSLEY ? Federal officials have filed extradition papers in Mexico seeking the return of the only suspect in a triple slaying four years ago in Kinsley.

Martin Vasquez-Arroyo is wanted in connection with the death of his estranged wife, Robin Vasquez, her boyfriend and her father in December 1998.

The bodies of Robin Vasquez, Howard Franks and Thomas Dinkel were found Dec. 13, 1998, in Vasquez’s Kinsley home. Authorities believe all three had been shot in the head by Vasquez-Arroyo.

Atty. Gen. Carla Stovall filed three charges of first-degree murder against Vasquez-Arroyo in 1999 and announced a $5,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.

Last month, Stovall’s office completed an extradition packet, which was translated into Spanish and sent to the Department of Justice. Mark Ohlemeier, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office, said the papers have been forwarded to U.S. embassy in Mexico.

Kinsley residents believe Vasquez-Arroyo is in Durango, Mexico. Franks’ 1990 Ford pickup truck was later recovered at the Mexican border.

The last time any of the victims was seen alive was Dec. 11, 1998. Vasquez-Arroyo had stopped that day to talk to Vasquez at the local newspaper, the Kinsley Graphic, where she was a reporter.

Carl Immenschuh, who owned the newspaper, believes Vasquez’s filing for divorce sparked the confrontation with Vasquez-Arroyo.

The two had been married for about four years, but they separated and she started seeing Dinkel, 46, a city commissioner, owner of a local car dealership and assistant fire chief.

Franks, who was Vasquez’s father, had traveled to Kansas for Thanksgiving and to be with his daughter while she tried to work through the problems with Vasquez-Arroyo.

Franks was supposed to fly home the morning of Dec. 12, and his family in California became concerned when he was not on the plane when it arrived.

A friend, Debbie Hurnung, was supposed to pick up Vasquez and Franks that morning to drive them to the Wichita airport so Franks could fly back to California. When she couldn’t find Vasquez, Hurnung called the police, who entered Vasquez’s house late that night and found the bodies.