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Immigrant Deaths, Fiscal Year 2005

The Border Patrol's fiscal year, and therefore record keeping, runs from October 1 to September 30. For the purposes of our monitoring of migrant deaths, we are following this same calendar. This list is not a comprehensive list and represents only those deaths where information is available.

Border Deaths by State
October 1, 2004 - September 30, 2005

Texas	140
New Mexico	13
Arizona	261
California	49
Total	463

Border Deaths by Sector
October 1, 2004 - September 30, 2005

McAllen	58
Laredo	49
Del Rio	12
Marfa	4
El Paso	30
Tuscon	210
Yuma	51
El Centro	27
San Diego	22
Total	463

Date	Location Found	Name	Age	Cause of Death	Details	Source
2-May	Crossed border 10 days earlier - ended up in no man's land, Lechuguilla Mountains	Jose Ortiz, his wife & 4 others		Exposure to the elements	Used cell phone to call help -didn't know location - still can't find bodies	azcentral.com
4-May	Chiricahua Mountains near Portal, AZ. Body was on a blanket under a tree	Hispanic male	30-40	Dehydration and exposure	Dead for days: wearing jeans, black belt, white socks, black loafer-type shoes, next to 2 water jugs	Arizona Daily Star
5-May	Near Wellton at County 14th St. and Ave. 29E, AZ	male	Unknown	Exposure to the elements	None given	Arizona Daily Star
7-May	AZ	female	Unknown	Unknown	Died in BP custody; FBI investigation pending	Loredo Morning Times
11-May	Tohono O'odham Indian Nation near Ajo, AZ	Juan de Jesus Rivera	16	Shot by Border Patrol agent	Driver of dodge pickup truck carrying other immigrants; failed to stop for patrol	Arizona Daily Star
17-May	Near riverbanks and Palo Blanco Rd, TX	Hispanic male	34	Drowning	Body found floating in Rio Grande at 11:30 am, badly decomposed	Loredo Morning Times
21-May	25 miles North of Sasabe on AZ 286	Mexican woman	Unknown	Heat exposure	Found at 5:30 pm	Arizona Daily Star
21-May	25 miles North of Sasabe on AZ 286	male	Unknown	Heat exposure	Found at 10:00:00 PM	Arizona Daily Star
21-May	Empirita Rd and Interstate 10	Mexican national	Unknown	Heat exposure	None given	Arizona Daily Star
21-May	Barry M. Goldwater Range, 3.5 miles east of Port of Entry San Luis, AZ	Viridiana Herrera Aguilar	18	Heat exposure	Traveling w/husband and 8 others, all of whom were rescued	Yuma Sun
22-May	4 miles NE of Bisbee off Double Adobe Rd, AZ	Mexican man	19	Heat related injuries	Found surrounded by water bottles, dead for 4 hrs. before discovery	Arizona Daily Star
22-May	25 miles North of Sasabe on AZ 286	body		heat related injuries	Found at 10:00:00 PM	Arizona Daily Star
22-May	West of Ave. 2E and County 24th st. entered-12 miles E of San Luis Port, AZ	Marcela Cruz-Gonzalez, pregnant	24	Dehydration	Husband left her to find help, when he returned, she was dead	New York Times and Yuma Sun
23-May	Hermans Road on the Tohono O'odham Indian Nation, AZ	2 bodies	Unknown	Heat related injuries	Found at 4:45 am	Arizona Daily Star
23-May	14 miles South of Tacna, AZ	Mexican woman	22	Heat related injuries	Found with 3 other females all suffering heat related injuries	Yuma Sun
23-May	Tohono O'odham Indian Nation near Ajo, AZ	Man	30-40	None given	Found decomposing in an abandoned house- didn't die in latest heat wave	Arizona Daily Star
23-May	Tohono O'odham Indian Nation, AZ	Nicolas Francisco Jose	15	Hypothermia	None given	Mexico Week in Review and Pima County Medical Examiner's Office
25-May	El Paso Canal, TX	Woman	Unknown	Drowning	Woman rescued from canal near loop 375, dies; trapped under water too long	Laredo Morning Times
25-May	Rio grande, TX	4 male immigrants	Unknown	Drowning	BP surveillance video show men slipping 1x1 into 10 ft. deep swirl, S of wall near Del Rio	Loredo Morning Times
25-May	Near Milepost 5 on Arivaca Rd.	Man	mid to late 40's	Heat related injuries	Dead for several days	Arizona Daily Star
26-May	Off of Sierrita Mountain Rd. E. of Three Points, AZ	Man	Unknown	Heat related injuries	None given	Arizona Daily Star
26-May	7 miles into desert from Milepost 28 on Arizona 286	man	Unknown	Heat related injuries	Carried no identification	Arizona Daily Star
26-May	Near Milepost 31 on Arizona 286	Body	Unknown	Heat related injuries	None given	Arizona Daily Star
26-May	Near Milepost 31 on Arizona 286	Body	Unknown	Heat related injuries	None given	Arizona Daily Star
26-May	Near Milepost 31 on Arizona 286	Body	Unknown	Heat related injuries	None given	Arizona Daily Star
26-May	Near Milepost 31 on Arizona 286	Body	Unknown	Heat related injuries	None given	Arizona Daily Star
26-May	Near Milepost 31 on Arizona 286	Body	Unknown	Heat related injuries	None given	Arizona Daily Star
26-May	Near Milepost 31 on Arizona 286	Body	Unknown	Heat related injuries	None given	Arizona Daily Star
26-May	Near Milepost 31 on Arizona 286	Body	Unknown	Heat related injuries	None given	Arizona Daily Star
26-May	Near Milepost 31 on Arizona 286	Body	Unknown	Heat related injuries	None given	Arizona Daily Star
26-May	Near Milepost 31 on Arizona 286	Body	Unknown	Heat related injuries	None given	Arizona Daily Star
26-May	Near Milepost 31 on Arizona 286	Body	Unknown	Heat related injuries	None given	Arizona Daily Star
1-Jun	Arizona desert;1 1/2 miles south of Villa Montana Vista in Pima County	Hispanic male	Unknown	Heat exhaustion	None given	Pima County Medical Examiners Office
1-Jun	Near Glamis, California in the Imperial Sand Dunes	Male	24	Hyperthermia	Mexican citizen	El Centro Border Patrol
2-Jun	One mile southwest of Interstate 19, south of Sells, Arizona	male	Unknown	Heat exposure	None given	Pima County Medical Examiners Office
2-Jun	Between Tres Bellotas and the Fresnal Canyon in Arizona	Hispanic male	Unknown	Exposure to the elements	None given	Pima County Medical Examiners Office
2-Jun	In Franklin Canal in Socorro, Texas	Hispanic male	30's	Drowning	Carried no identification	El Paso Times
4-Jun	Laredo, Texas area	Hispanic male	Unknown	Hyperthermia	None given	Laredo Border Patrol
10-Jun	Laredo, Texas area	Hispanic male	Unknown	Hyperthermia	None given	Laredo Border Patrol
11-Jun	In a canal near a water treatment plant in El Paso, Texas.	Male	28	Drowning	Victim from Ecatepec de Morelos in central Mexico. Body found at 5:00 am after traveling companion found help	El Paso Times
11-Jun	Desert between Calexico and Bonds Corner, California	Male	36	Heat exposure	None given	El Centro Border Patrol
11-Jun	Franklin Canal in Soccoro, Texas	Male	40's	Drowning	Body appeared to have been in the water form ore than 24 hours	El Paso Times
12-Jun	Pima County	Male	Unknown	Hyperthermia	None given	Pima County Medical Examiners Office
13-Jun	Laredo, Texas area	Hispanic male	Unknown	Dehydration	None given	Laredo Border Patrol
15-Jun	Desert near Huachuca City, south of Tucson, Arizona	Male	18	Environmental exposure	Found lying under a tree	Cochise Medical Examiners Office
16-Jun	Foothill Blvd. and County 14th street in Yuma, Arizona	Unknown	8 1/2 month old fetus	Heat related injuries	Pregnant woman crossing desert lost her baby from heat related injuries	Yuma Border Patrol
17-Jun	Tohona O'odham Indian Reservation in Arizona	Male	Unknown	Heat exposure	None given	Immigration News Briefs and Tucson Border Patrol
17-Jun	On a trail South of the Silverbell Mine near Marana, Arizona	Male	Unknown	Heat exhaustion	The body appeared to have been dead for several days	Immigration News Briefs and Tucson Border Patrol
19-Jun	Near Calexico, California	Male	Unknown	Pending	During apprehension by Border Patrol, man collapsed. He didn’t respond to recitation and was transported to a hospital where he died.	El Centro Border Patrol
21-Jun	Arivaca, near Rancho Seco, Arizona	Male	Late 30s	Exposure to the elements	Another migrant told agents about man sleeping along trail in desert. Man was dead upon arrival.	Tucson Border Patrol
23-Jun	East of Nogales in Santa Cruz, Arizona	Male	aprox. 40	Exposure to the elements	None given	Tucson Border Patrol
23-Jun	Arizona 90, Cochise, Arizona	Male	Unknown	Heat sickness or dehydration	Man was found at 10 pm in a car traveling with another woman. He was convulsing and had difficulty breathing. He was flown to University Medical Center and died Friday.	Arizona Daily Star
25-Jun	South of Interstate 8 in Yuma, Arizona near the California Agriculture Station	Male	Unknown	Heat related injuries	None given	Yuma Border Patrol
25-Jun	On a ranch in Pima County, Arizona	Female	Unknown	Unknown	Tucson agents were notified by a local resident that there was a dead body on their ranch.	Tucson Border Patrol
25-Jun	1.5 miles south of State Route 86, near milepost 103.5 in Pima County, Arizona	Male	Unknown	Heat exhaustion	The man's body was found after his cousin told Border Patrol that they ran out of water the day before	Tucson Border Patrol
27-Jun	Tohona O'odham Indian Reservation in Arizona	Male	Unknown	Heat exhaustion	Border Patrol rescued 4 people, one of which told them that his brother-in-law had been left behind. The body was found dead.	Tucson Border Patrol
27-Jun	In Salinity Canal between County 21st and 22nd streets, near San Luis, Arizona.	Male	22	Drowning	Man is from Jalisco, Mexico	Yuma Sun
29-Jun	Two kilometers south of the Canoa rest stop on I-19 Exit 56 in Pima County, Arizona	Male	Unknown	Heat exhaustion	Border Patrol apprehended a group of 5 illegal aliens who told them that they had left another behind in distress. Two witnesses were able ot locate and identify the body.	Tucson Border Patrol
30-Jun	Three miles east of the Village of Ak Chin on the Tohono O'ohdam Indian Reservation in Arizona	Not specified	Unknown	Unknown	Body was found near a small back pack and a small burn area in a clearing. The body was laying on its right side semi face down. Body had been there for an extended period of time.	Tucson Border Patrol
30-Jun	State Route 94 east of Steele Canyon Road near Jamul, in Eastern San Diego County, California	three unknown	Unknown	Car accident	A minivan carrying 11 migrants veered into oncoming traffic to avoid a Border Patrol checkpoint. It hit an oncoming vehicle	Signon-sandiego news services
30-Jun	State Route 94 east of Steele Canyon Road near Jamul, in Eastern San Diego County, California	Nancy and Christian, daughter and son of Galdino Perez also in the van	11 and 13, respectively	Car accident	Young girl airlifted to Children's Hospital, where she later died	Signon-sandiego news services
30-Jun	State Route 94 east of Steele Canyon Road near Jamul, in Eastern San Diego County, California	Marta Alcala Estrada and unborn baby	Unknown	car accident	Died at another hospital after the accident	Signon-sandiego news services
2-Jul	South of Three Points, Arizona	Unknown	Unknown	Exposure to the elements	None given	azcentral-.com
2-Jul	South of Three Points, Arizona	Male	Unknown	Pending	Man died as rescue agents performed CPR on him	azcentral-.com
2-Jul	South of Vamori on the Tohono O'odham Nation south of Sells, Arizona	Female	Unknown	Pending	Agents found the woman who slipped into convulsions and later died at Tucson Medical Center	azcentral-.com, Arizona Daily Star
2-Jul	In Comobabi on the Tohono O'odham Nation in Arizona	Unknown	Unknown	Heat related injuries	Agents discovered a body late Saturday night	azcentral-.com
4-Jul	Ak Chin, Southwest of Tucson, Arizona	Female	Unknown	Heat exhaustion	None given	azcentral-.com
4-Jul	West of Ajo, Arizona	Two bodies	Unknown	Heat exhaustion	Border Patrol pilot spotted the two bodies that were so decomposed by the heat agents could not identify their sex	azcentral-.com, Tucson Citizen
4-Jul	Close to Geronimo Trail Road east of Douglas, Arizona	Carlos Armando Ortiz Dominguez	25	Exposure to the elements	Originally from Ures, a small town near Hermosillo, Sonora. Traveling with neighbors, he began trembling and fell ill shortly after starting the journey. His family and Border Patrol retraced the steps and found his body decom-posed.	Tucson Citizen, azcentral-.com, Arizona Daily Star
4-Jul	Near Ruby Road in Santa Cruz County, just north of Nogales, Arizona	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	After noon, Santa Cruz County deputies found the body.	Arizona Daily Star
5-Jul	In Bisbee Junction, two miles east of Naco, Arizona	Virginia Lizbeth Mejia Mejia	19	Heat sickness	Agents encountered the brother-in-law of the victim, who told Border Patrol where she had collapsed. Mejia is originally from Atlautla, Mexico	azcentra.com, Arizona Daily Star
6-Jul	Near Tacna, east of Yuma, Arizona	Male	Unknown	Heat related injuries	Two migrants led Yuma Border Patrol to the body	Tucson Citizen
7-Jul	Three miles north of Three Points, Arizona	Male	Unknown	Heat exposure	Body was spotted Wednesday evening and found early Thursday	Tucson Citizen
7-Jul	Five miles west of Sells, Arizona	Male	Unknown	Heat exhaustion	Another migrant led agents to the dead man, who he said had fallen ill and went into convulsions. He said they were abandoned by a larger group	Tucson Citizen
7-Jul	Near Federal Route 31 at milepost 9 near Cowlick, Arizona.	Female	Unknown	Heat related injuries	A Bureau of Customs and Border Protection pilot spotted the dead woman, who appeared to have died several days earlier	Tucson Citizen
7-Jul	Milepost 3 on Arivaca Road in Pima County, Arizona	Unknown	Unknown	Exposure to the elements	An Arivaca resident found the body	Tucson Citizen

To continue the list, click here.

For more information on border deaths in Arizona, go to:
http://www.derechoshumanosaz.net/deaths.htm or
http://regulus.azstarnet.com/borderdeaths/search.php