The disappearance of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie’s mother three weeks ago has inspired volunteers to launch their own searches in the dense desert near her home just outside Tucson.

For the first nine months of 2020, the Border Patrol listed 43 deaths in the Yuma and Tucson sectors that make up the Arizona border area. During the 2019 calendar year, the federal government listed 70 deaths in Arizona, while the mapping project counted 144. Federal statistics show that search and rescue operations near Arizona's border inexplicably dipped to 213 during a record-hot July and August, from 232 in July and August 2019. Still, some officials and activists working near the Arizona border believe wall construction could be sending migrants into riskier places. The Trump administration expects some 450 miles (725 kilometers) of border wall to be done by year’s end, much of it in Arizona.

SAN DIEGO – Day 6 (Friday): (10:08 p.m.) In the eyes of many immigrants who cross into the United States from Mexico illegally, the journey into America is well worth the risk. The LineThe San Diego Medical Examiner's Department is working closely with Border Patrol and the Mexican Consulate to help identify bodies of those found along the U.S.-Mexico border. Story at 10 p.m. #KSATBorderJourney #TheLine #TX2CALI pic.twitter.com/m49Bh9U2r3 — Tiffany Huertas (@tiffanychuertas) July 28, 2018(6:33 p.m.) The #KSATBorderJourney arrives at its final destination: San Diego, California. “We have a very good relationship with our counterparts in Mexico,” agent Joe Romero, a supervisor for the Border Patrol’s El Paso Sector, said. During his time as sheriff, Estrada said the first drug cartel tunnel ever discovered in the country was in Nogales, Arizona, which is the county seat.

NOGALES, Ariz. – Day 5 (THURSDAY): (10:08 p.m.) The first drug tunnel in the nation was discovered near an old abandoned church in Nogales, Arizona, a border town of fewer than 21,000 people. Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada said in his 50-year career in law enforcement he has seen at least 110 tunnels used for drug trafficking in Nogales, Arizona. THE LINE: We’ve traveled from the Rio Grande Valley to (now) here in Nogales, Arizona. From personal experience, I have not seen the border wall THIS CLOSE to residents who live on the U.S. side. SERIES➡️https://t.co/32cfRN84Sm #KSATBorderJourney #TheLine #KSATnews pic.twitter.com/BZH3wCe65d — Adrian Garcia (@adrianrolgarcia) July 26, 2018I'll be reporting from Nogales, Arizona today.

NOGALES, Ariz. – The first drug tunnel in the nation was discovered near an old abandoned church in Nogales, Arizona, a border town of fewer than 21,000 people. Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada said since the discovery in 1995, more than 110 drug tunnels have been found. From personal experience, I have not seen the border wall THIS CLOSE to residents who live on the U.S. side. While people continue to smuggle in drugs and even cross over illegally from Mexico, Estrada said he doesn't believe a border wall will fix the problem. That’s not the America I’m used to seeing.”Courtest: U.S. Border PatrolAccording to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s website, the Nogales Border Patrol Station consists of two Immigration Patrol Inspectors covering 27 miles of the International Boundary between both sides.