Mourners pray during a mass funeral in Fallujah, 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. Hundreds of Iraqi protesters have gathered in Fallujah for the funeral of six protesters killed during shooting by army troops a day earlier. (AP Photo/ Khalid Mohammed)
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Mourners pray during a mass funeral in Fallujah, 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. Hundreds of Iraqi protesters have gathered in Fallujah for the funeral of six protesters killed during shooting by army troops a day earlier. (AP Photo/ Khalid Mohammed)
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Mourners chant slogans against Iraq's Shiite-led government during a mass funeral in Fallujah, 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. Hundreds of Iraqi protesters have gathered in Fallujah for the funeral of six protesters killed during shooting by army troops a day earlier. (AP Photo/ Khalid Mohammed)
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Mourners grieve over the body of their relative, Hussam Kadim Ali, 30, during a mass funeral in Fallujah, 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. Hundreds of Iraqi protesters have gathered in Felluja for the funeral of six protesters killed during shooting by army troops a day earlier. (AP Photo/ Khalid Mohammed)
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FILE - In a May 9, 2012 file photo, Capt. Sara Rodriguez, 26, of the 101st Airborne Division, carries a litter of sandbags during the Expert Field Medical Badge training at Fort Campbell, Ky. The Pentagon is lifting its ban on women serving in combat, opening hundreds of thousands of front-line positions and potentially elite commando jobs after generations of limits on their service, defense officials said Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Kristin M. Hall, File)
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FILE - In this Sept. 18, 2012 file photo, female soldiers from 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division train on a firing range while testing new body armor in Fort Campbell, Ky., in preparation for their deployment to Afghanistan. The Pentagon is lifting its ban on women serving in combat, opening hundreds of thousands of front-line positions and potentially elite commando jobs after generations of limits on their service, defense officials said Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)
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FILE - This Jan. 19, 2013 file photo shows Defense Secretary Leon Panetta speaking during a news conference in London. Panetta has removed US military ban on women in combat, opening thousands of front line positions. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
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FILE - In this Oct. 20, 2011 file photo, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez speaks to soldiers in La Fria, Venezuela. With Chavez now knocked low by a stubborn cancer and the future of his government in question, the armed forces may not be so prepared to hold the country together this time. A former military officer and several experts said the president’s five-week absence has created a gaping hole at the top of the chain of command, one that the governing duo of Vice President Nicolas Maduro and National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello has proven incapable of filling. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano, File)
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FILE - In this Jan. 10, 2013 file photo, members of Venezuela's Bolivarian militia attend the symbolic inauguration for President Hugo Chavez in Caracas, Venezuela. Since taking office in 1999, Chavez has tried to transform the military into defenders of his socialist-inspired policies, especially since a 2002 coup led by rebellious soldiers, and has cultivated the 125,000 person-strong citizens militia. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)
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FILE - In this May 11, 2010 file photo, retired Venezuelan army general Antonio Rivero speaks during an interview in Caracas, Venezuela. With President Hugo Chavez now knocked low by a stubborn cancer and the future of his government in question, the armed forces may not be so prepared to hold the country together this time. A former military officer and several experts said the president's five-week absence has created a gaping hole at the top of the chain of command. Rivero a former brigadier general who retired early in protest, was one of the first to sound the alarm about the leadership gap and has reportedly suffered intimidation from state intelligence agents as a result. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano, File)
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FILE - In this Jan. 11, 2009 file photo, soldiers check prices at a supermarket accused by the government of raising prices in Caracas, Venezuela. In a country riven by political strife, Venezuela’s military has often been one of the few unifying forces keeping tempers at bay. Generals have stepped in to deflate coups and other national crises, while soldiers have been dispatched to run services from food distribution to oil production. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano, File)
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A supporter of Paraguayan presidential candidate, former Gen. Lino Oviedo, lights a candle at a makeshift memorial, backdropped by one of his campaign posters, at the entrance of the morgue where his remains were taken, in Asuncion, Paraguay, Monday, Feb. 4, 2013. The presidential hopeful died Saturday in a helicopter crash. Oviedo was returning with his bodyguard from a political rally in northern Paraguay Saturday night when his pilot encountered bad weather. All three were killed in the crash. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
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A woman touches a campaign poster of presidential candidate former Gen. Lino Cesar Oviedo outside the UNACE (National Union of Ethical Citizens) party headquarters in Asuncion, Paraguay, Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. Oviedo was killed in a helicopter crash Saturday night, authorities said Sunday, ending a dramatic political career that included coups and repeated attempts to lead Paraguay. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
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FILE - In this Sept. 17, 2007, file photo, Head of Paraguay's Armed Forces, Gen. Lino Oviedo, talks to supporters during The UNACE, Ethical Citizens Union party's fifth anniversary in Asuncion, Paraguay. Oviedo, a Paraguayan presidential candidate, has reportedly been killed in a helicopter crash, authorities said Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz, File)
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FILE - In this April 3, 2008, file photo, Lino Oviedo presidential candidate for the National Ethical Citizens Union party (UNACE) attends a debate in Asuncion, Paraguay. Oviedo has reportedly been killed in a helicopter crash, authorities said Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
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Rescue workers inspect the site where the former Paraguayan presidential candidate Lino Cesar Oviedo died after a helicopter crash in Chaco region, some 60 miles north of Asuncion, Paraguay, Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. Oviedo was returning with his bodyguard from a political rally in northern Paraguay Saturday night when his pilot encountered bad weather. All three were killed in the crash, said Johnny Villalba, a spokesman for Paraguay's airport authority. (AP Photo/ABC, Roque Gonzalez)
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Employees of a funeral company carry the remains of the former Paraguayan presidential candidate Lino Cesar Oviedo, his bodyguard and a pilot to a morgue in Asuncion, Paraguay, Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. Oviedo was returning with his bodyguard from a political rally in northern Paraguay Saturday night when his pilot encountered bad weather. All three were killed in the crash, said Johnny Villalba, a spokesman for Paraguay's airport authority. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
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A supporter of the late Paraguayan presidential candidate Lino Cesar Oviedo cries outside the morgue where his remains were taken in Asuncion, Paraguay, Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. Oviedo was returning with his bodyguard from a political rally in northern Paraguay Saturday night when his pilot encountered bad weather. All three were killed in the crash, said Johnny Villalba, a spokesman for Paraguay's airport authority. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
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Supporters of the late Paraguayan presidential candidate Lino Cesar Oviedo demonstrate outside the morgue where his remains were taken after he died in a helicopter crash in Asuncion, Paraguay, Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. Oviedo was returning with his bodyguard from a political rally in northern Paraguay Saturday night when his pilot encountered bad weather. All three were killed in the crash, said Johnny Villalba, a spokesman for Paraguay's airport authority. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
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Supporters of the late Paraguayan presidential candidate Lino Cesar Oviedo react outside the morgue where his remains were taken after he died in a helicopter crash in Asuncion, Paraguay, Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. Oviedo was returning with his bodyguard from a political rally in northern Paraguay Saturday night when his pilot encountered bad weather. All three were killed in the crash, said Johnny Villalba, a spokesman for Paraguay's airport authority. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
Paraguay investigators try to ID candidate's body
ASUNCION, Paraguay (AP) — The bodies of Paraguayan presidential candidate
Lino Oviedo and two other people killed in a helicopter crash over the weekend are so mutilated that they can't be reconstructed and it will take longer to identify them.
Forensic doctor Pablo Lemir told reporters Monday that officials might identify the bodies through fingerprints. He said bones and pieces of skin have been stored in 32 body bags at a local morgue.
Oviedo was returning with his bodyguard from a political rally in northern Paraguay Saturday night when his pilot encountered bad weather. All three were killed in the crash.
"The crash was so powerful that the helicopter's nose sank into the ground over a meter deep," Lemir said. "I want to clarify that those aboard did not die of burns but were shattered by the impact, dismembered."
The deadly crash ended a dramatic political career for Oviedo that included coups and several attempts to become the leader of this poor, grain-producing country.
Oviedo, 69, was running in April's presidential elections as part of Paraguay's third-largest opposition party, the National Union of Ethical Citizens (UNACE), but he was not among the favorites.
His widow, 59-year-old Raquel Marin, will take over the political leadership of the party after Oviedo's funeral.
"She can't run as a candidate for any elected post," said Carmelo Benitez, a Mercosur trade bloc lawmaker representing the UNACE party, on local radio Monday.
"But she'll take the helm of the party in the electoral campaign to make Oviedo's dream come true: for Paraguay's poor to be happy."
The U.S.-made Robinson 44 helicopter crashed on a farm some 120 miles (200 kilometers) from the capital Asuncion.
The helicopter's satellite transmissions system sent a meteorological signal every two minutes, and Paraguayan authorities have requested the helicopter's U.S. makers for any data that can help with the probe, , said Carlos Fugarazzo, head of Paraguay's civil aviation authority.
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