BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – Authorities believe a body found near railroad tracks in southwest Bexar County is connected to the six people found dead inside a boxcar in Laredo over the weekend, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said in a news conference Monday.
Around 1:30 p.m., Union Pacific Railroad police found a male’s body near Pue and Wolf roads, just outside Loop 1604.
The six bodies in Laredo were discovered in a potential human smuggling event Sunday afternoon during an inspection at a rail yard in the 12000 block of Jim Young Way, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Salazar said authorities believe the body found in Bexar County was part of the same load.
Watch the full Monday afternoon news conference below:
He said after the bodies were found in Laredo, Union Pacific and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents went back to patrol the Pue and Wolf roads location, where they had received an alert that one of the containers had been open.
Salazar described the boxcars as “basically airtight,” estimating temperatures can reach up to 150 degrees. Because the boxcars cannot be opened from the inside, authorities believe smugglers either found the male’s body and dumped it out to avoid accountability, or the male was leaning against the door when it was opened and he fell out.
Salazar said the male was in possession of a Mexican voter registration card. The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office will determine his identity and cause and manner of death.
Salazar said on Saturday evening, the San Antonio Police Department got a call from a person out of state who said they had received a message from a relative believed to be in one of the boxcars.
The relative said “it was getting very, very hot, and that they were having some physical trouble as a result of it,” Salazar said.
SAPD was dispatched to a location in the city several miles up the road, Salazar said, but nothing was found. Authorities believe the person who sent the message was among the six deceased found in Laredo.
The train originated from Del Rio, Salazar said. When it arrived at a station near where the body was found Monday, the train split, with half going to Laredo and the other half going to Houston.
Salazar said it remains unclear whether the full group was larger than seven people.
“It’s quite possible that load of people may have been somewhat bigger than the seven bodies we’re up to now, or it’s possible that may have been it,” Salazar said.
Union Pacific said it is “working closely with law enforcement to investigate.”
Anyone who has information or believes they may have seen something suspicious is urged to contact the sheriff’s office.
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