Sacred Heart Cemetery, Falfurrias, TX:  During the 10-day period (June 1-11), undergraduate and graduate students worked diligently to exhume as many human being remains as possible as part of the Forensic Project coordinated by the Forensic Scientists Team, their professors, Dr. Lori Baker, Sgt. Jim Huggins, and Dr. Krista Latham. The field work is part of their summer course in forensic anthropology that leads to their particular degree in a related field. Some students are Biology majors, others are interested in the criminal investigation aspects. But in this project, all students participated in every aspect of the scientific process. (See related story.)

The students were divided into four teams and rotated duties and responsibilities that included taking measurements, digging with hands, shovels, dustpans, etc, and recording and reporting. They were constantly reminded by their professors and peers to drink plenty of water.

What was their game plan? One student’s response was that there was no plan since they didn’t have any specific information in regard to the number of unknown migrants buried in the designated plot and where they were buried. So, they started digging, probing, exploring, until they recovered the remains, a total of 50. Once they located a bag of remains, they worked carefully to ensure that all of the remains were left intact.

The heat and exhaustion were barely tolerable, but some students became ill and were taken to the emergency hospital in Kingsville. In all there were a few students that required emergency assistance, and three trips to the hospital. One student had a back injury while others suffered from dehydration. Their work began each morning before daybreak and by noon the heat forced them to break for the day.

The exhumation attracted a steady flow of visitors and media personnel. The students were clearly in a fishbowl and everyone who witnessed their work were equally impressed by their diligence, hard work and dedication, not only for the project’s success but for their own development as scientist; and hopefully, gained an insight into the tragedy of how border crossers risk their lives trying to cross into the United States, and yes, die in the process.

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Sacred Heart Cemetery, Falfurrias, Texas:  For the second consecutive summer, a team of forensic scientists and their students from the Baylor University and the University of Indianapolis participated in exhuming the remains of unknown migrants from the Sacred Heart Cemetery in Falfurrias, from June 1 – 11. Dr. Lori Baker and Sgt. Jim Huggins, from Baylor University, and Dr. Krista Latham from the University of Indianapolis engaged about 30 graduate and undergraduate students in the process of searching and unearthing a total of 50 human being remains. The students signed up with Dr. Baker in a course that combines biology, anthropology, physical science and other related fields of study. With shovels of all sizes, gloves, small brooms and other tools, the students and professors worked persistently and methodologically to remove the soil, probe, locate the remains, and transfer each in a body bag, carefully catalogued and reported in notebooks and photographed accordingly. Very little is known about the migrants; only that they were border crossers and met their fate while trekking through the Brooks county’s rough, thorny brush terrain, and perhaps, coupled with the scorching summer heat took their lives one way or another. The teams’ main goal is to identify the corpses or their remains, and ultimately match them with their loved ones.

Sgt. Jim Huggins, Baylor Univ.

Dr. Lori Baker, Baylor Univ.

Dr. Krista Latham, Univ. of Indianapolis

 The Cemetery

At the outset, the team members were aware of the lack of information on the number of “unknown” migrants and where exactly they were buried. According to the Sheriff’s Department staff member Leonel Muñoz, the burials date back to 2005, but there may be even older remains since the plot was also used for pauper burials and its initial construction dates back to the 50’s. Last summer, Dr. Baker and team members exhumed about 60 corpses in another section of the cemetery, so they were prepared for the unexpected. At the time the corpses were buried, funeral homes that provided burial preparations didn’t thoroughly and correctly examine the corpses, thus their identities were literally buried and forever forgotten. Until, Chief Deputy Benny Martínez recognized the problem.

Finding the Resources

Jessie Degollado and Dr. Baker

Chief Deputy Benny Martinez

Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Martínez runs his department on a very tight budget due to the allocation formula of State and County funds that favor counties closer to the Mexican-US border. (Brooks County is in the central area of South Texas’ 13 counties.) His strategy of searching and procuring resources paid off when he was introduced to Baylor’s Dr. Lori Baker by a San Antonio journalist, Jessie Degollado (with KSAT-TV). Ms. Degollado had met Dr. Baker about 10 years ago and was familiar with her work in exhuming corpses in Del Rio, TX. In the summer of 2013, Dr. Baker and the Forensic Team began the exhumation project, and their return this summer was largely due to its initial success.

Reuniting Families Project (RFP)

Dr. Lori Baker founded the consortium, Reuniting Families Project in 2003 with the purpose of recovering the remains of unidentified individuals, many of who were border crossers or migrants, from cemeteries along the México/US border. The RFP scientists (Dr. Lori Baker, Sgt. Jim Huggins, Dr. Krista Latham, and Dr. Kate Spradley from Texas State University conduct forensic anthropological analysis on the remains, including DNA samples, and enter this information into national databases that can ultimately lead to the identification of the deceased and the notification of this finding to the closest relative. Whereas the analyses of the remains are eventually available, especially the DNA, there is a lack of sufficient databases by which to compare and match the DNA. Even though some cooperation with Mexico’s Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, Ministry of Foreign Affairs has produced a database system (System for the Identification, Reunification, and Localization of Individuals or SIRLI), a frustration persists in producing sufficient matches between the missing and their loved ones. (See 2005 Press Conference with Marco Antonio Fraire.) The number of calls by family members looking for their loved ones is overwhelming for an ill-equipped and understaffed agency. Additionally, an increasing amount of Central Americans are amongst the deceased and a consistent cooperative strategy between the countries and the US agencies has yet to fully materialize. (Other resource link: “Exhuming Immigrant Remains: Reuniting Families Program”)

Working in the Right Direction

Sheriff Rey Rodriguez, Dr. Baker, & Eddie Canales

Despite the information gaps and the paucity of resources, the process undertaken by the University Teams for identifying the human being remains of migrants is a significant step in the right direction. After the exhumation phase of the project, Dr. Baker and team members and students return to their prospective universities to analyze the recovered remains and proceed with the identification and reunification processes. With their help and expertise, the “unkowns” buried in the Falfurrias cemetery may at last be reunited with their loved ones.

See related story: “University Professors Lead by Example” in this blog.

See related story:  “University Students Learn Life-Long Lessons” in this blog.

Dr. Corrine Stern

Dr. Corinne Stern’s lab and office overlooks a scenic view of a scaled down brush country typical of the topography of South Texas on the outskirts of Laredo in Webb County. The building is about a mile from the main road, next to the volunteer Fire Department on a dirt road. The drab, neat building in the style of old Mexico serves as the destination of migrants’ corpses found in Brooks County (see South Texas map). They had traveled by foot for miles, having crossed the Mexico-Texas border from various starting points including Mexico and Central America.

Medical Examiner’s Building (Laredo, TX)

Dr. Stern’s “patients” met their fate from “natural” causes, for example, dehydration, heat stroke, and snake bites. In the case of many migrants whose bodies were recovered from the Rio Grande River in Webb County, the cause of death was drowning. In this part of the river, the water is deep and its currents strong, making the crossings more perilous than further south.

Let the Dead Teach the Living.

Dr. Stern’s job is to examine the corpses’ identifiable markings and any other pieces of artifacts (clothing, for example) in their possessions that would help in the identification process. Sometimes, valuable information is hidden underneath the soles of the shoes, or in secret cavity in leather belts. She meticulously examines every inch of the subject, holding true to her professional standards as evident in a Latin phrase written on an old piece of paper, framed, hanging in her office: Mortui Vivis Praecipant (“Let the Dead Teach the Living”).  She brought the sign from New Orleans, while working there as an Examiner in the Reserves, right after Katrina hurricane plagued the city.

The information is entered in the “Missing Migrants” binder, which is used to corroborate data from other sources, mainly family members searching for their loved ones. If there is a probable match between the corpse and the family member, DNA samples are collected thus facilitating the identification process. Even so, all corpses’ DNA samples are collected eventually. Unclaimed bodies are held in the Lab’s morgue for 60 days before transferred to a funeral service for burial.

Data collected on each client.

Dr. Stern’s office receives numerous calls from family members asking for any information that would lead to the whereabouts of their loved ones. The Mexican Consulate in Laredo also receives inquiry calls. In Brooks County, the Sheriff’s office assists in the identification of missing migrants, but their scope of assistance is extremely limited due to lack of resources.

Before contracting with Dr. Stern’s Office in August, 2013, Brooks County officials transported the corpses found within their boundaries to Elizondo Mortuary in Mission, TX. Unclaimed corpses were buried in the Falfurria’s cemetery (see photo gallery). Both Texas State University in San Marcos and Baylor University in Waco have lent their assistance and resources: the Baylor team has thus far exhumed 62 of the approximately 130 unknown or unclaimed corpses from the Falfurias cemetery, and transported these to Texas State where they are stored and processed for identification purposes.

Corpses that are decomposed down to their skeletal remains are transported to Forensic Anthropologist, Dr. Harrell Gil-King at the University of North Texas in Denton. Dr. Gil-King’s analysis serves to further identify the remains.

All information collected from various sources is entered into a national database, the United States Justice Department’s the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

The search and identification process is particularly complicated by the fact that many of the loved ones’ families live outside of the United States. The consulate offices are helpful to a certain extent. However, the migration factors have changed in the last decade or two. There are as many border crossers or more from Central America as there are from Mexico. Texas is now the leading border state with the most migrant deaths (see related article), yet the resources are unequally distributed, leaving offices such as the Brooks County Sheriff with very limited means by which to assist in the identification process.

The South Texas Human Rights Center has as one of its main goals to facilitate County officials in their work with migrant deaths.

In addition STHRC has worked with the Border Patrol and ranch owners in installing 21 water stations in an effort to prevent deaths among border crossers due to dehydration.

The STHRC headquarters in Falfurrias, coordinated by Mr. Eduardo Canales, works with the local community as well as the national and international agencies to provide assistance in assuring that the rights of migrants are respected and protected.

Contact Mr. Canales at (361) 946-5252.

Photos from May 17th visit to Dr. Stern’s office:

Refrigerated Compartment

Filmmakers filming Dr. Stern’s demonstration: John Carlos Frey and Matthew Campanela.

Clothing: Careful examination yields information.

Mary Wickstrom, Assistant to Dr. Stern.

José Fernando Torres speaks from his heart. His wife has been missing for 20 months.

Rothko Chapel, Houston, TX   –  José Fernando Torres led the reading of the names of the dead or missing migrants during a solemn ceremony at the non-denominational Rothko Chapel on Saturday, November 2^nd. But Torres didn’t read the name of his wife who has been missing for 20 months. Instead he offered a plea of hope that she would return home to their two young children. She was last heard from when trekking through the harsh South Texas area, near one of the ranch houses. But, she suddenly disappeared as if the earth swallowed her.

A total of 29 participants read the 200 names; five at a time. After the reading, the group assembled in the outdoor patio, eating and drinking the traditional Día de los Muertos hot chocolate and sweet bread. A small basket served to collect a donation of $120, which will aid in the efforts of the South Texas Human Rights Center to prevent migrant deaths.

The South Texas Human Rights Center gratefully acknowledges the staff members of the Rothko Chapel who made the special ceremony possible. We are very appreciative of their kind and generous assistance.

Please see the photo gallery slideshow of the readers and other participants.