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Nonprofit at Texas State University works to identify unknown remains along Texas-Mexico border

Scholars at Texas State have identified more than 150 unknown human remains in order to bring their families closure after years of waiting.

MAVERICK COUNTY, Texas – The journey of crossing the Texas-Mexico border can be a deadly one.

Over the last decade, hundreds of people have been found dead in Maverick County. Many of them would remain unidentified without the help of a Texas State University nonprofit.

Operation Identification identifies and repatriates human remains found at the southern border. The nonprofit hopes to provide closure to families, at no cost to them, who aren’t sure if their loved one is missing or deceased.

The nonprofit has identified nearly 200 people with Texas State University’s Postdoctoral Scholar, Victoria Swenson, partially leading the efforts when the group travels to border towns. The program’s director is Dr. Kate Spradley.

“Normally, we deal with skeletal remains to develop a biological profile,” Swenson said.

KSAT met Swenson and her team in Maverick County, a county where dozens of migrants attempt to cross the border. Many of the border deaths Operation Identification works on are from heat-related illnesses and drownings across several border towns.

When in Maverick County, the nonprofit works with Amerika Garcia’s volunteer organization: Border Vigil – Eagle Pass.

“Climate change, crime, drug violence are pushing people for survival, and their options become more and more limited,” Garcia said.

Border Vigil’s mission is to highlight the number of deaths across the Rio Grande and provide information to the public about what is happening in border towns.

“They will do anything for hope,” Garcia said. “Unfortunately, that means crossing in the hottest times of day, in the hottest part of the year and in dangerous places, like along the Rio Grande. We actually put up a cross memorial here in Eagle Pass in Shelby Park.”

Texas State anthropologists said newly found remains of unknown individuals could be linked back several years. To speed up the identification process, Operation Identification added a new approach in 2024.

“We’ve kind of switched gears to include fingerprinting and DNA sampling of more recently deceased,” Swenson said. “Fingerprints are the quickest, easiest way to identify people. When we get a fingerprint ID, it comes back with a report of who they are, where they’re from, birth date.”

While fingerprinting is convenient, results do not always come back with a match to a person.

There are also times when natural body decomposition prevents the ability to take fingerprints. In those cases, Operation Identification can bring remains back to Texas State University in San Marcos for a more in-depth identification process.

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About the Authors
Zaria Oates headshot

Zaria Oates is a news reporter for KSAT 12. She joined in June 2024 from Memphis, where she worked at ABC24. Oates graduated from Clemens High School in Schertz and earned a journalism degree from the University of Oklahoma. She's passionate about learning, traveling and storytelling.

Sal Salazar headshot

Sal Salazar is a photojournalist at KSAT 12. Before coming to KSAT in 1998, he worked at the Fox affiliate in San Antonio. Sal started off his career back in 1995 for the ABC Affiliate in Lubbock and has covered many high-profile news events since. In his free time, he enjoys spending time at home, gaming and loves traveling with his wife.

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