Posted: Aug 15, 2013 1:34 PM PST Updated: Aug 15, 2013 1:41 PM PST
By Phil Benson

PHOENIX (CBS5) -

Alarmed by the rising number of bodies found in the desert, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio says his office will place crosses where victims are found, as a deterrent to desert crossers.


The crosses were made by Arpaio's Tent City inmates. (Source: Maricopa County Sheriff's Office)

The sheriff's Tent City Jail inmates recently constructed the wooden crosses, which will aid those in danger and who call 911 for help. The crosses will be numbered and will be GPS sensitive.

Sheriff's deputies have investigated 14 deaths since June in and around Gila Bend.

"Desert crossers are dying in unknown numbers due to the desert's brutal conditions and excessively high temperatures," said Arpaio.

More than 30 people have been rescued from the same area this summer, Arpaio noted.

In the past four days, sheriff's deputies found another four bodies in the desert near Gila Bend. Two were discovered on Saturday and two on Tuesday.

Arpaio said two men were rescued from the desert this week. Both of them were suffering from heat-related illnesses, which required medical attention.

"I have directed my staff to track the time and resources spent on these mercy missions," Arpaio said. "The federal government's failure to secure the border should be a charge paid for by that government, not laid at the feet of Maricopa County taxpayers."

"If the Federal Government, for whatever reason, cannot secure our borders, it should be their responsibility, and not Arizona taxpayers, to pay for these rescues," Arpaio said.

Deputies said they also found remains of a human skull, linked to a body found in the desert last summer.

http://www.kpho.com/story/23149652/a...on-death-march