TUCSON, Ariz. – Multiple agents from Air and Marine Operations (AMO) and the Tucson Sector Border Patrol joined forces Wednesday to search for two teenagers separated from their parents during an attempt to enter the United States illegally.
The Border Patrol’s Casa Grande Station received a report shortly after noon that an aerial surveillance drone detected two small groups of suspected undocumented immigrants walking north in the vicinity of Horse Peak, two miles from the international border.
Border Patrol agents responded to the reported location of three individuals and apprehended two, a man and a woman. While interviewing the couple, agents learned they were parents of two teens traveling with another group, consisting of four people, and that the guide in that group had a handgun.
After an extensive search of the area, and with mounting concern that they may not find the teens, searchers requested more agents and an AMO aircraft to help. Search efforts soon grew to include agents on foot, on motorcycles, and in the air.
After almost three hours of searching in some of the most remote and desolate desert terrain with triple-digit temperatures, agents found the teens, ages 15 and 16, sitting under a small tree. Agents examined the teens on scene and, after determining both were in good health, reunited them with their parents at the Border Patrol’s Casa Grande Station.
During the summer months, Border Patrol agents and AMO aircrews conduct exhaustive patrol activities every day in hopes of finding and saving the lives of people in distress. Regrettably, they are not always successful and find themselves struggling to cope with situations that have a tragic ending.resources to the west desert area, between Tucson and Yuma, has helped the Border Patrol rapidly reach more people in distress who might otherwise have perished in the heat. However, Tucson Sector officials continue to warn the public – north and south of the border – that hiking through the desert is especially dangerous this time of year.
Border Patrol officials urge anyone in distress, for any reason, to call 9-1-1 or activate a rescue beacon before becoming a casualty. In fiscal year 2016, Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents rescued more than 1,400 people; mostly in western Arizona.
Because human smugglers continue to abandon their human “cargo” when the person becomes injured or is otherwise unable to keep up with the group, Border Patrol officials say they will “continue to warn against the dangers of crossing illegally under dangerous environmental conditions.”