Thread: TX-Missing immigrant leaves authorities searching Rio Grande

Missing immigrant leaves authorities searching Rio Grande
April 22, 2008 - 12:07AM
By ALLEN ESSEX/VALLEY MORNING STAR

LA PALOMA - U.S. Border Patrol agents and San Benito firefighters searched late Monday for an illegal immigrant who may have drowned while swimming across the Rio Grande.

Agents took three illegal immigrants into custody - two men and one woman - in a vehicle near the intersection of Farm-to-Market Road 1577 and Military Highway at about 3:30 p.m., Border Patrol Supervisory Agent Daniel Doty said.

"While they were talking to the aliens, the female told them that there was an adult male with them that was crossing the river that went under the water and never re-surfaced," Doty said. "So they started searching and they called the boat and they called the helicopter. They started searching the riverbank and the river."

After searching for about two hours with the aid of the San Benito Fire Department, Border Patrol agents completed the initial search but other Border Patrol shifts will continue searching the area through the night, Doty said.

"In cases like this, we contact the Mexican authorities so they can search the south side (of the Rio Grande)," Doty said. The three illegal immigrants who were stopped in the vehicle were taken into custody, he said.

Border Patrol agents on the night shift continued to search through the night for the immigrant who disappeared in the Rio Grande, Doty said.

"We don't stop until we know (the fate of the immigrant)," he said.

http://www.valleymorningstar.com/news/p ... ching.html

Yes, I feel bad that any human being dies like this. But it's a risk they took and they suffer the consequences. The Rio Grande is a barrier that should deter people who have any lick of common sense.