Four Migrants Rescued, One Body Recovered near Texas Border

Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents saved four migrants from dying on a massive South Texas ranch. Unfortunately, another in the group died before the rescue.

Carrizo Springs Border Patrol Station agents received a 911 call regarding a group of migrants who became lost on a ranch. The callers reported one of the men, a Mexican national, appeared to be suffering from a heat-related illness, according to information provided by Del Rio Sector Border Patrol officials.

Agents contacted a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine Operations (AMO) aircrew to assist in the prosecution of the search and rescue operation. The AMO aircrew located the group of migrants and guided ground-based Border Patrol agents to the scene.

Agents identified four migrants as Mexican nationals — all male. Agents found a fifth migrant, a 25-year-old Mexican male, died before the rescue could be made. A local justice of the peace made the statutory proclamation of death. Agents turned the body over to the local funeral home. The sheriff’s office will conduct the investigation into the migrant’s death.

“Many illegal aliens are unprepared for the distances they must walk and the terrible heat they will face after crossing the Rio Grande River,” Del Rio Sector Chief Patrol Agent Raul L. Ortiz said in a written statement. “Smuggling organizations routinely force ill-prepared migrants to hike through remote terrain to avoid being encountered by Border Patrol. Sadly, one member of the group was found deceased, but the quick action taken by our agents in locating the others prevented further loss of life.”

Officials reported the four surviving migrants suffered no injury or illness after becoming lost on the ranch. The agents transported the Mexican nationals to the Carrizo Springs Border Patrol Station where they were processed for immigration violations and scheduled for return to their home country.

This is the first migrant death in the Del Rio Sector for Fiscal Year 2020 which began on October 1. More than 20 migrants died in this sector during FY2019.

Nationally, at least 335 migrants died while or shortly after crossing the Mexican border into the U.S. during this calendar year. More than 200 of those died in Texas, according to the International Organization for Migration’s Missing Migrant Project.