The New York City medical examiner sought fingerprint and dental records yesterday to determine if a body recovered from a Vintondale, Cambria County landfill was a Bolivian immigrant allegedly killed by her boyfriend.

"We're hoping to have an answer by the end of the week," said Ellen Borakove, spokeswoman for the medical examiner.

Some dental records may still be in Bolivia, she said.

Monica Lozada-Rivadineira, 26, was last seen Sept. 24. Her boyfriend, Cesar Ascarrunz, 32, remains jailed without bail on a murder charge. Authorities have said he confessed to choking her to death in their apartment in Queens. He has denied that, according to recent published reports.

The case attracted national attention after Ascarrunz allegedly left the woman's 4-year-old daughter, Valery, on a Queens street in the middle of the night. Authorities were only able to identify the pigtailed girl after taking the unusual step of putting her on television in hopes that someone would recognize her.

As authorities tried to verify her identity, the slain woman's mother was headed from Bolivia to New York, where her granddaughter remained with a foster family.