Man dies from heat, four rescued by Border Patrol in past week

EDINBURG - U.S. Border Patrol agents rescued four people and tried in vain to save the life another in recent days on ranchland surrounding the Falfurrias checkpoint.

The Brooks County Sheriff's Office contacted agents Friday after deputies received a phone call from two men in distress, according to a Border Patrol statement. Agents found the pair on the King Ranch and administered first aid to them, but one of the men died from heat-related symptoms.

The other man, a Mexican national, remains in the hospital, said John Lopez, a local Border Patrol spokesman. Once the man recovers, he will be deported to Mexico.

Agents also encountered a single-vehicle crash near Falfurrias on Friday afternoon. Two people were unconscious and trapped inside the vehicle along U.S. Highway 281. The disabled vehicle ignited a grass fire and agents shattered the rear window, cut through the seat belts and removed the two people inside. Brooks County emergency crews responded to assist the injured.

And about 8:30 a.m. Monday, agents received a call from Brownsville police that a woman in distress had dialed 9-1-1 and was separated from her group of fellow illegal immigrants who were trekking north through the brush.

Based on the location of the cell phone tower that relayed the woman's call, agents were able to locate her near Farm-to-Market Road 755. The woman, a Mexican national, was taken to the Border Patrol station in Falfurrias for immigration processing. 

Since October 2008, local Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley Sector have rescued 48 people in distress, Lopez said. In that same time period, area Border Patrol agents have recovered 25 bodies.