The body of a seventh person was found Monday about 150 miles north of Laredo near tracks in Bexar County, according to CBS News. Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said the man was carrying Mexican identification and is believed to have been part of the same group. According to Sheriff Salazar, the containers have no mechanism allowing anyone inside to open them, and each is fitted with sensors that register every time a door is accessed. Records from those sensors showed the Del Rio-originating train had a container accessed in the vicinity of where the seventh victim was later recovered; after passing through the San Antonio area, the train was divided at a junction, with one portion routed to Houston and the other to Laredo.
At some point Saturday, a person now believed to be among the Laredo victims sent word to a family member that the heat inside the container had become dangerous and was causing physical distress, according to the Los Angeles Times. That family member then called police, but San Antonio officers sent to search the area came up empty.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it is investigating the deaths as a potential human smuggling incident, according to CBS News. Homeland Security Investigations and the Texas Rangers are also involved, according to ABC News. Union Pacific $UNP said it "is working closely with law enforcement to investigate," according to the Los Angeles Times. The Webb County Medical Examiner's Office has been working with the Mexican Consulate to notify victims' families, confirm identities, and facilitate the return of remains, according to ABC News.
