Thread: San Diego Border Patrol Agent Dies In Line Of Duty

OK folks lets have a little respect here please!
I said I would look into this and post the results and I will!
Right now all we have is a dead agent with no idea of the cause of death so before we go making accusations lets get some facts first OK.
I will post the facts as soon as I can.
MD

YOU ARE RIGHT MOUNTAIN. I GUESS WITH THE JAILING OF THE BP2 AND OTHER BIZARRE HAPPENINGS....I AM SUSPICUOUS RIGHT AWAY. BUT YOU ARE RIGHT. I FORGOT ABOUT THE HEAT DOWN THERE. PLEASE POST WHEN YOU HAVE INFO ON THIS. WE WOULD ALL APPRECIATE IT.

Originally Posted by redpony353

OK folks lets have a little respect here please!
I said I would look into this and post the results and I will!
Right now all we have is a dead agent with no idea of the cause of death so before we go making accusations lets get some facts first OK.
I will post the facts as soon as I can.
MD

YOU ARE RIGHT MOUNTAIN. I GUESS WITH THE JAILING OF THE BP2 AND OTHER BIZARRE HAPPENINGS....I AM SUSPICUOUS RIGHT AWAY. BUT YOU ARE RIGHT. I FORGOT ABOUT THE HEAT DOWN THERE. PLEASE POST WHEN YOU HAVE INFO ON THIS. WE WOULD ALL APPRECIATE IT.

I promised I would find out what happened and I will but with the weekend I may not learn anything until Monday and I will post my findings as soon as I can.

Agent dies; heat might be to blame

By Pauline Repard
STAFF WRITER

July 28, 2007

A 31-year-old Border Patrol agent died of unknown causes Thursday after tracking suspected illegal border-crossers near Jacumba, federal authorities said yesterday.

Agent Eric Cabral, who joined the Border Patrol in September 2005, worked out of the agency's Boulevard station.

It appeared that Cabral died of dehydration or heat stroke, though he had a small amount of water left in his canteen, Border Patrol Supervisory Agent Richard Smith said.

Smith said he believes Cabral is the first agent in San Diego County to die in this manner, if an autopsy confirms that his death was heat-related.

Cabral and his partner began tracking a group of people through rocky, mountainous terrain north of Interstate 8 and Carrizo Gorge Road about 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

The agents spent most of the day apart but in constant radio contact. Temperatures topped 100 degrees, Smith said.

About 4:30 p.m., Smith said, the two agents met and agreed to give up tracking for the day. Each headed toward his patrol vehicle, parked in different spots.

When Cabral didn't appear 10 to 15 minutes later or answer his radio, his partner summoned other agents to look for him. They found him, unresponsive, near a set of railroad tracks about a quarter-mile from the De Anza Springs Resort. Cabral was flown by Mercy Air to a hospital, where he was declared dead about 6:40 p.m., Smith said.

“It's a tragic reminder of the risks agents face every day,â€

Thanks for this update Jean, if I learn anything new I will post it on here.
MD

Originally Posted by MountainDog

Thanks for this update Jean, if I learn anything new I will post it on here.
MD

You're welcome MD. Yes, please let us know what you find out.

Border Patrol Agent's Death Under Investigation

POSTED: 12:15 pm PDT July 28, 2007
UPDATED: 1:39 pm PDT July 28, 2007


SAN DIEGO -- A border patrol agent died Friday in the rough desert mountains east of San Diego while tracking a group of suspected illegal aliens, the agency said Saturday.


Eric Cabral, 31, a San Diego native, was separated from his partner, and officials lost radio contact with him Friday. He was found on the ground and passed out near the De Anza Springs Resort near Jacumba and flown by Mercy Air to a local hospital.


Cabral was pronounced dead at 6:40 p.m. Cause of death has not been determined, but the case is not being treated as a homicide investigation, according to the county medical examiner's office.


Cabral joined the agency on Sept. 26, 2005, officials said.


"Agent Cabral lost his life serving and protecting the nation, and on behalf of the Border Patrol, we send our sincerest thoughts and prayers to his family during this difficult period," said San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent Michael Fisher.


Information regarding the memorial service will be provided later, officials said.

http://www.10news.com/news/13774925/det ... d&psp=news

Border Patrol agent dies in Calif. of apparent heat illness

Monday, July 30, 2007

(07-30) 18:07 PDT SAN DIEGO, (AP) --


The death of a 31-year-old Border Patrol agent last week in a rugged, mountainous area could mark the agency's first weather-related fatality, authorities said Monday.


Eric Cabral died Thursday from an apparent heat-related illness. He had been pursuing a group of suspected illegal immigrants on foot on a day when temperatures topped 100 degrees.


"He was exhibiting signs of heat exhaustion or heat stroke," said Richard Smith, an agency spokesman. "We're fairly confident it was heat related."


Four agents have died from heart attacks while on duty, but Cabral appears to be the first to die as a result of the weather, said Ramon Revera, another angency spokesman.


The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office has not determined the cause of death.


Cabral and a partner were pursuing migrants for the most of the day near Jacumba, a forested area about 60 miles east of San Diego, Smith said.


Working separately and communicating by radio, they abandoned the chase late afternoon. The partner called for help when Cabral did not respond to his radio call.


Cabral was unresponsive when found near the De Anza Springs Resort, the agency said. He died at a nearby hospital.


Extreme temperatures kill hundreds of migrants each year in deserts and mountains along the U.S.-Mexico border.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 749D06.DTL

Thanks for the update Jean.
I talked to a guy I know out here and he said CPR was started and after the air ambulance arrived they got a pulse back, his heart quit later and they were unable to revive him. Everything that could be done, was done to try and save him.

Border Patrol mourns first agent to die from heat
By ELLIOT SPAGAT Associated Press Writer
News Fuze
Article Launched:08/03/2007 03:39:52 PM PDT

SAN DIEGO—The first Border Patrol agent ever to die from apparent heat-related causes while on duty was buried Friday with a 21-gun salute.
Eric Cabral, a 31-year-old fitness buff, died July 26 after collapsing on solo foot patrol in a failed pursuit of suspected illegal immigrants in the rugged mountains east of San Diego.

Hundreds of migrants perish every year from heat and cold trying to sneak across the 1,952-mile U.S.-Mexico border, but Cabral is the first Border Patrol agent believed to have been killed by extreme weather.

"Your enemy out there is not only the bad guys, it's the weather," said Don McDermott, the supervisor of Cabral's Border Patrol station. "It's like working in an oven."

Cabral's physical stamina drew the attention of instructors at the Border Patrol Academy in Artesia, N.M., where he graduated in February 2006.

"The physical trainers would yell at Eric because they thought he mocked their workouts," Julius Alatorre, a fellow Border Patrol agent and trainee, told about 500 mourners at St. Michael Catholic Church.

The temperature hit a high of only 95 degrees about three hours before Cabral collapsed but the air was muggy with scattered rain, said Philip Gonsalves, a National Weather Service meteorologist. Summer winds from Mexico typically bring tropical moisture to southwestern states.

In heavy humidity, sweat doesn't evaporate, trapping heat and causing body temperature to rise, Gonsalves said.

The San Diego County coroner's office has not determined a cause of death but Border Patrol officials have said Cabral exhibited signs of heat exhaustion or heatstroke.

Seismic sensors alerted Cabral and a colleague around 9 a.m. to a group of suspected illegal immigrants near Jacumba, a hamlet 60 miles east of San Diego that is surrounded by boulders, cactus, manzanita trees and sage brush.

Working from separate vehicles, the agents walked alone carrying heavy gear in areas without roads and kept in touch by radio, said Richard Smith, a Border Patrol spokesman. The pair abandoned the pursuit after seven hours. They met briefly, and headed separately back toward their cars.

When Cabral never showed up at a roadside meeting point, another agent who was assigned to pick him up launched a search, Smith said. Cabral was found unresponsive, with a cut on his forehead and water in his canteen. He was flown to a hospital, where he died less than three hours after his partner last saw him in apparently good shape.

Agents often walk the border solo, looking for broken twigs, footprints, overturned pebbles and other clues. They are aided by ground sensors and communicate with colleagues by radio.

At least 4,500 migrants have been found dead along the border since a U.S. government began in the mid-1990s that pushed traffic to remote deserts and mountains, said Claudia Smith of the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, a migrant advocacy group. Smith said that tally came from records she obtained from the Mexican government, but that the actual toll is even higher because some bodies are never found.

T.J. Bonner, head of a union that represents Border Patrol agents, said he was surprised that no agents had died sooner, considering how many migrants have perished.

Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, suffered heat exhaustion twice while on duty, including once while working the mountains east of San Diego in the 1980s. He said he was bedridden for three days and felt "weak as a kitten."

Since 1919, 103 Border Patrol agents have died on duty, according to The Officer Down Memorial Page Inc., which tracks law-enforcement deaths. Gunfire was the leading cause with 30 deaths, followed by automobile accidents and aircraft accidents.

Cabral, a San Diego native, earned a master's degree in physical education from Azusa Pacific University in 2003 and taught health and fitness at Southwestern College in Chula Vista, a San Diego suburb, before joining the Border Patrol.


http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_6537835

THANKS FOR THE UPDATE JEAN. THIS IS VERY SAD.