Four bodies, including that of an infant girl, were recovered from the Rio Grande River along the US-Mexico border in Texas within a 48-hour span, according to officials on Monday, July 3.
Lieutenant Chris Olivarez, spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety, stated that two dead were pulled out of the river on Saturday, July 1, one on Sunday, July 2, and another on Monday. Due to the absence of identifying documents, the identities of the deceased individuals remain unknown.
The incident began when authorities responded to a request from the US Border Patrol about a potential infant drowning on Saturday. Four people, including an unresponsive woman and baby girl, were found floating in the river. Life-saving measures were taken, but unfortunately, the woman and baby were later pronounced dead at the Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center, located in Eagle Pass, Texas. The other two people pulled from the river on Saturday survived and were handed over to the US Border Patrol.
On Sunday, an unidentified male body was recovered from the river, followed by the recovery of an unidentified female body on Monday, Olivarez reported.
Crossing the Rio Grande, a perilous route spanning nearly 2,000 miles that divides Texas and Mexico, is a common method chosen by migrants attempting to enter the United States unlawfully. Tragically, last September, nine migrants lost their lives while trying to make this dangerous journey.
In a separate incident on Monday, troopers from the Texas Department of Public Safety discovered two young children from Guatemala abandoned near the edge of the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass.
The children, aged eight and eleven, told the troopers that a woman had left them at the river’s edge on the Mexican side, instructing them to cross.
Lt. Olivarez expressed concern about the exploitation and abandonment of children who are smuggled or trafficked across the Texas-Mexico border. He highlighted that over 900 children had been rescued from smuggling and trafficking-related events by the Department of Public Safety.
