Colombian Migrant, 11-Year-Old Daughter, Found Dead in Arizona Desert After Smugglers Abandoned Them
A Colombian mom and her 11-year-old daughter were found dead in an Arizona desert late last month after crossing the U.S. border from Mexico.
Temperatures reached highs of 102 degrees at the time. So authorities believed that the Colombian migrants died from heat exhaustion as they attempted to cross into the U.S. from Mexico.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed that the Colombian migrants were found dead on the Sonora Desert near Yuma, Arizona by the officers who responded to a 911 call on August 26. Officials also found a second child, who was next to his mom's body, still alive.
The Colombian migrant was identified as Claudia Marcela Peña and her late 11-year-old child daughter as María José Sánchez. The Daily Mail reported that the three-year-old boy who survived was Cristian David Morales. He was transferred to an Arizona hospital after he was found. The toddler is now being cared for by social services in California.
According to the family of the Colombian migrants, the three were abandoned by "coyotes" or human smugglers who took them across the U.S.-Mexico border. Peña and her kids traveled from Colombia to make the illegal crossing to be reunited with her husband Victor Morales in Florida.
Colombian Migrant, Daughter Died in Arizona Desert
The bodies of Peña and her daughter were discovered after the Colombian mom made a desperate call to 911, which she made moments before they succumbed to the heat.
Authorities said Peña told the 911 operator to help them, saying she's going to pass out. In the background, Peña's daughter can be heard asking for food.
The operator asked the Colombian migrant to send her location using the WhatsApp messaging service. However, her phone went dead before she could do so.
Hours later, after 911 officials in Mexico contacted U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Colombian migrants' bodies were found as well as the toddler who survived.
Somerton Cocopah Fire Dept. Battalion Caps. Louis Carlos told DailyMail.com that the three-year-old boy was a "little lethargic" when the border agents discovered the Colombian migrant family.
The agents handed the toddler over to paramedics after driving through the rugged terrain. Officials said there were no signs of violence found on the migrants' bodies.
The Consulate of Colombia in Los Angeles said they were coordinating with the family of the Colombian migrants in the U.S. and those in the South American country.
Migrants in the U.S. Southern Border
The U.S. has already recorded hundreds of thousands of migrant encounters across the southern border. In mid-August, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said around 212,672 migrants were encountered at the southern border in July.
The record marked a 13 percent increase from the 188,000 migrant encounters in June. Mayorkas noted that 95,788 of the more than 212,000 encounters were expelled through the Title 42 heath protection by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
READ MORE: U.S. Eyeing at Land Routes to Evacuate Stranded Americans, Afghan Allies in Afghanistan
This article is owned by Latin Post
Written By: Joshua Summers
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