SAN ANTONIO – Federal agents in South Texas rescued a man and found two people dead this week.
According to a news release, the Starr County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday afternoon received a 911 call from a man in distress near La Grulla. Sheriff’s officials contacted Border Patrol agents assigned to the Rio Grande City station, who used the GPS coordinates of the man’s cellphone to find him. He was taken to a hospital and will be processed for deporation when he’s cleared for travel.
Agents assigned to the McAllen station found a body floating on the Rio Grande River close to the Mexican bank of the river, officials said. Agents contacted Mexican authorities who were patrolling the river. The authorities responded and recovered the decedent.
On Wednesday afternoon, agents assigned to the Falfurrias station were contacted by ranch workers about some skeletal remains they found on the ranch. The remains were turned over to the Brooks County Sheriff’s Office.
Brooks County is notorious as a death trap for migrants. According to officials, the remains of at least 700 people have been discovered in ranch land and brush as migration has spiked in recent years.
People fleeing poverty and violence in Mexico and Central America often travel through remote Brooks County once they pass the U.S.-Mexico border to avoid federal checkpoints on major highways. But with few resources, water or people, many often end up stranded or worse.
KSAT 12 News in 2018 documented the dangerous journey the immigrants face in a series of reports called “The Line.”