Border Patrol agents assigned to the Falfurrias Station rescued two illegal immigrants abandoned by human smugglers in the arid ranches in South Texas. That same day, agents made the gruesome discovery of the skeletal remains of another migrant who was not as fortunate.
Border Patrol agents and deputies from the Brooks County Sheriff’s Office in Falfurrias have found the remains or bodies of nearly 45 illegal immigrants so far this year. Wednesday’s discovery comes as no surprise to Sheriff Benny Martinez.
“These callous human smugglers have no regard for human life,” Sheriff Martinez told Breitbart Texas. “If a migrant becomes injured, dehydrated, or exhausted by the rigorous march around the Border Patrol’s checkpoint, the smugglers just leave them behind to die.”
Martinez’ office received a call from a rancher on November 1 that one of his workers found a skeleton on his ranch. Dispatchers contacted Border Patrol agents and a local justice of the peace to recover the remains.
The agents and deputies arrived on the scene and began the arduous process of recovering the remains of the lost migrant. Pronouncement of death is made by the local justice of the peace. A search of the area failed to produce any identifying documents or personal effects.
After carrying out the remains, deputies transported the deceased migrant to the medical examiner’s office where Dr. Corinne Stern will attempt to make an identification.
CNN’s Headline News aired a report in October about the work accomplished by the Webb County Medical Examiner who also performs services for about thirteen counties in South Texas.
“We have seen 109 migrant deaths as of today,” she stated in the October interview. “In addition to the 43 from Brooks County, 42 were found here in Webb County. Starr County had 10, Dimmit had 5, and the remainder came from Jim Hogg, Zapata, Maverick, Kenedy, and Val Verde counties.”
Later on November 1, Border Patrol agents in Brooks County found two other illegal immigrants who were abandoned by human smugglers.
Brooks County dispatchers received a call about the two lost illegal immigrants. The sheriff’s office called Border Patrol agents who quickly responded to the GPS coordinates of the call and found two men. An investigation revealed one of the men to be a Guatemalan national while the other came from Honduras. Neither men required medical attention.
Sheriff Martinez expressed his frustration with the mounting death toll his county is experiencing. “As long as these ruthless human smugglers continue to make money marching their ‘cargo’ through South Texas, these deaths will continue,” the sheriff said in an October interview with Breitbart Texas. “We will keep doing our best to save as many of them as we can.”
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX, GAB, and Facebook.