In Maverick County, 26 bodies pulled from the Rio Grande were buried, some without attempts to identify them. Teams of Texas State students are trying to learn their names so their families can be notified. texas migrants kprc2 click2houston
A metal cross, painted white and starting to rust where it had been placed in the ground over unmarked migrant graves, is one of many scattering the ground at the Maverick County Cemetery, where dozens of John Doe graves have been exhumed in an effort to identify bodies in Eagle Pass.
After they finished, Soto, 23, silently addressed the anonymous migrant: Thank you for letting me handle you today and do what I have to do. I’m going to do everything I can to get you where you belong.Texas State University’s Operation Identification team members evaluate the day’s progress in exhuming “John Doe” graves at the Maverick County Cemetery in Eagle Pass on Jan. 10.
Some of the bodies the students exhumed during their first visit in November had ID cards or passports on them, the students said.
At the same time, the number of migrant apprehensions at the southern border by immigration agents hit a record 2.4 million in the 2022 fiscal year, part of a yearslong increase in migrant crossings at the southern border. When local law enforcement or Border Patrol agents find the body of a migrant, they’ll call a local justice of the peace, who has the option of requesting an autopsy to determine a cause of death.
Volunteers with the University of Indianapolis Human Identification Center watch as a teammate removes debris from a body bad during the excavation of several unidentified migrant remains at the Maverick County Cemetery in Eagle Pass on Jan. 10, 2023. Credit: Kaylee Greenlee Beal for The Texas Tribune
Last summer, the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office in San Antonio was still dealing with the aftermath of two separate mass casualty events — the May 24 murder of 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, followed by the June deaths of 53 migrants who suffocated inside an 18-wheeler used to smuggle them into the country.
Canales, the center’s director, said he recently got a text from a woman in Guanajuato, Mexico, to ask for help finding her father, who went missing in 1990 after crossing the border into Texas. Canales said he would ask Border Patrol for any reports and check the Texas State lab’s records to see if they have any DNA from the man.
Inside the makeshift tent where the students examined the bodies, Chloe McDaneld, the laboratory manager at Texas State where the bodies will be taken for further examination, took photos and asked Konda — who was serving as the notetaker — to note the man’s short black hair and the autopsy incisions to the skull and chest.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Two-day wild horse adoption event to be held in Rio Grande ValleyThe Bureau of Land Management will hold a two-day wild horse and donkey adoption event in Mercedes.
Read more »
Mayor Wilson says Salt Lake County is resilient and 'stronger together' in annual addressSalt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson proclaimed Salt Lake County is resilient and 'stronger together' when people collaborate to tackle issues.
Read more »
Jennifer Connelly Says Tom Cruise Deserves Oscar Nom for ’Top Gun: Maverick‘ Performance: ’He’s Extraordinary’Jennifer Connelly starred in one of the biggest movies of 2022, “Top Gun: Maverick,” as badass bar owner Penelope Benjamin, who has a love connection with Tom Cruise’s Maverick. C…
Read more »
Oscar Nominations 2023: Adapted Screenplay'All Quiet on the Western Front' and 'Top Gun: Maverick' lead the pack.
Read more »
Oscar nominations: 'Everything Everywhere All at Once,' 'Top Gun: Maverick' among leadersThe Academy Awards ceremony will be held March 12.
Read more »
Santa Clara County district attorney sworn in for fourth termJeff Rosen lays out his ‘House of Justice’ platform as he sets off on 13th year as the South Bay’s top prosecutor.
Read more »