3 Mexican migrants found dead in Arizona desert

TUCSON, Arizona – Three Mexican migrants were found dead in the Sonoran Desert on Wednesday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said.

U.S. Border Patrol agents in Ajo, Arizona, were notified of the activation of a rescue beacon near Sheep Peak early Wednesday morning. Officials said officers were notified of the other missing people by surviving migrants and an air and ground search was initiated involving officers from Ajo Station and air units from Yuma Air Branch.

The plane’s crew was able to find the body of one man, and later that day after noon, agents found the bodies of the second and third migrants. Authorities said the migrants’ bodies were taken to the Pima County coroner’s office. The Mexican consulate was notified of the incident.

“CBP’s message to anyone considering using the services of smuggling organizations to enter the United States illegally across the southern border is simple: Don’t do it,” said Justin De La Torre, deputy chief of patrol for the Tucson Sector. “As this case demonstrates, migrants put their lives in danger when they cross the border illegally. The terrain along the border is extreme, the unrelenting summer heat is unbearable, and remote areas where smugglers take migrants are unforgiving. Far too many people who have chosen to put their lives in the hands of the criminal organizations have died from dehydration and heat stroke.”

The identity of the migrants and the cause of death were not initially disclosed.

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