SAN ANTONIO – Lily Marlene Hernandez has been calling every government agency and consulate office she can think of and local hospitals to find her brother, 20-year-old Pablo Hernandez.
Lily Hernandez said she knows her brother was in Falfurrias when he called them last Wednesday. He had left Reynosa, Mexico, in early June and was expected to arrive in Houston.
“I know he was walking with a group of people and that the people he was with left him because he couldn’t walk. He was cramping up, and he couldn’t keep going,” Lily Hernandez said in Spanish.
The news of the 53 dead migrants in a San Antonio trailer hit the family hard. They feared he might be in that group or in need of medical help somewhere else.
“There’s an anxiety of not knowing if he’s fine or if he needs something. You have so many thoughts of what could have happened,” Lily Hernandez said.
The Mexican Consulate in San Antonio said it has received more than 100 calls from families seeking information about missing loved ones who may be linked to the migrant tragedy on the Southwest Side.
Twenty-seven of the dead victims have been identified as Mexican nationals, and 17 others have not been identified yet.
Officials are asking anyone with information that could help them identify or contact family members to call 210-872-4386 at the San Antonio Mexican Consulate office.
Lily Hernandez says her brother, Pablo Hernandez, is about 5 feet 6 inches tall and has a scar from collarbone surgery. She says efforts to spread the word about his search on social media have made her the target of people looking to extort the family of money.