RENO, Nev. -- A friend is trying to raise money for Patrick Dennehy's cash-strapped family by selling the missing basketball player's first car, a green, 1973 Ford Mustang.

"He really loved this car," said James Ackerman of Carson City, who bought the car from Dennehy's father about five months ago.

"I originally wanted to give the car back to the family, but financially there's just no way I can do that. I'd like to get it sold and give all the profits to his parents," he said Saturday.

Ackerman manages an apartment building in Carson City where Dennehy's stepfather and mother, Brian and Valorie Brabazon, lived until recently. Patrick Dennehy also lived there off and on when he wasn't in school, he said.

"I've had a 'For Sale' sign on the car for a couple of weeks but it wasn't getting the job done. So I thought I'd try something else," he said Saturday in a telephone call to The Associated Press in Reno.

Ackerman provided a copy of the bill of sale to AP to prove it had belonged to the Dennehy's. He said he talked to Brian Brabazon by telephone Saturday from Albuquerque to get his permission to launch the fundraiser.

"He was very appreciative of it," Ackerman said.

The Brabazons were driving back with a U-Haul from Waco to their home in Carson City on Saturday when they got word in Albuquerque about the discovery of a body in an area where they had been searching for Dennehy, Ackerman said.

Authorities in Waco said at a news conference Saturday they could not immediately identify the remains.

"The whole thing is very unfortunate," Ackerman said. "He was a great kid. I never had any problems with him. He was a very respectful kid. The family is good people."

Patrick Dennehy, formerly of Oakland, Calif., bought the car in the San Francisco Bay area when he was 16 years old, Ackerman said. The Brabazons moved into the Carson City apartment about two years ago then moved out Jan. 31 to another Carson City residence, he said.

"When they moved, they couldn't get the car running so I bought it," Ackerman said. He said he only paid $300 for the car, but invested about $2,200 getting it back into good running order. He said it could be worth as much as $10,000.

"I'll give the family whatever I can get," Ackerman said.

"I know the family well and I know they don't have much money at all. They've been driving all over the place, driving to Waco in a U-Haul to get his furniture. Brian told me today they were down to their last nickel."

Ackerman said Brian Brabazon is a laborer who had worked for various employers as a repair technician, most recently a Reno-based utility, Sierra Pacific Power.

"They've never been a real wealthy family and the expenses of all this must be killing them," he said.

Ackerman said he also was pulling together some other former belongings of Dennehy's to auction off for the family as well.