Dying to cross borders: The human cost of forced immigration
It’s Feb 12, 2012, and Border Patrol agents stumble upon the grim scene while on a routine patrol about nine miles north of the Mexican line on the Tohono O’odham Nation reservation, near Sells, Arizona. The agents take a GPS reading and notify Detective Juan Gonzales of the Tohono O’odham Police Department, which has jurisdiction over the investigation of deaths on tribal lands. They then head back out into the unforgiving desert.
The following day, Detective Gonzales visits the site. He cannot find any identification documents. There’s no sign of foul play. He collects the bones and effects, places them in a white plastic body bag, and transports the package to the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner in Tucson, about 90 miles northeast.
