SAN ANTONIO, Texas — A body found near a railroad crossing in San Antonio on Monday is believed to be part of an illegal alien smuggling incident that resulted in the deaths of six others over the weekend. Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar announced the discovery and provided details on the possible connection in a Monday press conference.
As reported by Breitbart Texas, the remains of six suspected illegal aliens were found on Sunday in a Union Pacific railway car at a railyard in Laredo, Texas, less than a mile from the Mexican border. Due to the state of decomposition present at the time of the discovery, authorities believe the bodies had been inside the railway car for some time. According to a source familiar with the investigation, authorities believe the illegal aliens boarded the train near Spofford, Texas, mistakenly believing the train to be headed north, into the U.S. interior.
Instead, the sealed train car made its way from Spofford to Laredo, a distance of more than 100 miles, as temperatures exceeded 90 degrees Fahrenheit over the weekend. The train originated in California with a destination of Laredo. Family members of the suspected illegal aliens notified U.S. authorities that their relatives were missing, according to the source.
On Monday, according to Sheriff Salazar, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents arrived in San Antonio to search an area where the railcar sensor on the train car where the earlier six deceased illegal aliens were discovered showed the railcar had been opened near San Antonio on Wolf Road in Bexar County before arriving in Laredo. While searching the area, HSI agents and Union Pacific Railroad Police discovered the body of a deceased male, in possession of a Mexican identity document, bringing the death toll to seven.
Salazar speculated the railcar may have been opened by smugglers who discovered the decedents inside the car and left the body of the decedent near the tracks. Salazar surmised the smugglers likely opened the car as the railcar could not have been opened from the inside. According to Salazar, the body discovered in San Antonio on Monday also showed signs of decomposition, similar to those discovered in the case of the six decedents located in Laredo.
Salazar says the San Antonio Police Department received a phone alert about people trapped in the sweltering railcar over the weekend, but the caller, from another state, provided a location miles from where Monday’s discovery occurred. The caller is believed to be related to one of the six decedents discovered in Laredo. San Antonio police officers were dispatched to the location provided by the caller, but were unable to locate the group of suspected illegal aliens in the railcar.
Fox News Correspondent Brook Taylor posted a summary of the nationalities of the six migrants found in the Laredo incident. The Webb County Medical Examiner reported two of the decedents were from Honduras, and four were from Mexico.
One of the deceased was identified as a 14-year-old juvenile. The Medical Examiner reported the cause of death as hyperthermia.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Before his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.
Bob Price is the Breitbart Texas-Border team’s associate editor and senior news contributor. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday morning talk show. He also serves as president of Blue Wonder Gun Care Products.