By Joel Langton
Val Verde County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Border Patrol agents recovered another immigrant’s body out of the Rio Grande River Wednesday, March 3.
A frustrated VVCSO Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez said a male Cuban National was the fifth person who drowned trying to find a new home in the last 60 days.
No one is really sure how long his body had been in the river.
“The immigration issue’s financial cost to our county is astronomical. We were helping Border Patrol chase 24 people in the Vega Verde this morning, then we had deputies working the drowning victim this evening, but the costs of both of those are heart breaking beside the cost of a life,” said Martinez.
The body of the Cuban national was found near the Del Rio Port of Entry, 100 yards south of the Weir Dam. Earlier in the year, a Haitian female pregnant with twins was found two days after her husband. The husband was found on the Mexico side, the mother was found on the United States side.
Martinez said they are working the drowning investigation with Border Patrol.
