Trail of blood leads to illegal immigrants

Eight people found in deserted cabin after SUV rollover
Stacia Glenn, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 04/23/2008 10:37:55 PM PDT


TWENTYNINE PALMS - A trail of blood led authorities early Wednesday to eight illegal immigrants, including a 10-year-old boy, hunkered in a deserted cabin.

A San Bernardino County sheriff's search-and-rescue team set out about 3 a.m. after a passer-by reported a Toyota 4Runner had rolled over on Amboy and Baghdad roads.

Emergency personnel found blood in the 4Runner and on the pavement, but no one at the scene.

Several people from the nearby Marine Air Ground Combat Center and a helicopter joined the search.

Searchers followed the blood trail and found the driver and his seven passengers - some of whom suffered major injuries - three miles away in a cabin.

Medical personnel "were quite surprised they had been able to walk three miles from the crash" because of their injuries, sheriff's spokeswoman Jodi Miller said.

The driver and the passengers were all taken to Hi-Desert Medical Center in Joshua Tree.

They were released from the hospital late Wednesday and are being held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for immigration violations, ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice said.

ICE officials were called because the 4Runner's passengers told sheriff's deputies they were in the United States illegally.

They had just crossed the border on Tuesday night, Miller said.

Interviews with the immigrants are scheduled for today.

It is believed that the crash occurred after the driver of the 4Runner fell asleep at the wheel.

It is unclear whether the boy's parents were in the 4Runner.

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