Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents rescued a Mexican woman suffering from a heat-related illness who became lost with another woman on a ranch in Dimmit County, Texas. The second woman was later found dead.
Agents assigned to the Carrizo Springs Border Patrol Station received a call for help from two women lost in a rural area of Dimmit County on August 23. The agents quickly began a search and rescue operation and called in an aircrew from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine Operations (AMO). The search led to the rescue of one of the women, according to information provided by Del Rio Sector Border Patrol officials.
While Border Patrol agents attended to the woman suffering from exposure to the heat, the search for the second woman continued.
Agents treated the first Mexican woman at the scene for heat-related illness and transported her to a hospital in the area. Doctors treated the woman for dehydration and later released her to Border Patrol agents. The agents transported her to the Border Patrol station for processing as per CBP guidelines, officials stated.
The search for the second woman continued into the next day, according to the statement. Agents eventually found the woman but she had already succumbed to the elements. Officials turned her body over to the local justice of the peace and Dimmit County law enforcement officials.
“Our agents stand ready to answer any call to provide lifesaving care to those who need help,” Del Rio Sector Chief Patrol Agent Raul L. Ortiz said in a written statement. “This event is bittersweet as one person was saved, but unfortunately, one person succumbed to their injuries before being found in the tremendous heat and unforgiving terrain.”
Earlier this month, Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents rescued nine other migrants in nearby Maverick County, Texas. Unfortunately, another in the group of ten illegal aliens became unresponsive and died from his heat-related illness, Breitbart Texas reported.
So far this year, at least 160 migrants have died while or shortly after illegally crossing the border from Mexico into Texas — nearly 30 in the Del Rio Sector alone. Nationally that number stands at more than 250, according to the International Organization for Migration’s Missing Migrants Project. The Del Rio Sector has also carried out more than 450 rescues of migrants in distress.