Six migrants, including a 14-year-old, were found dead inside a freight car in Laredo, Texas, on May 10. The group comprised two men and a woman from Mexico, and three men from Honduras, all believed to have died from overheating. Temperatures in Laredo had reached 90°F that day.
A seventh body was discovered near railroad tracks in Bexar County, about 150 miles away. The man, identified by family as 49-year-old Nereo Aguilar Garcia, had a Mexican ID. Authorities suspect a link to the Laredo deaths, though no official connection has been confirmed.
On the same day the seventh body was found, Homeland Security Investigations executed a search warrant in Del Rio, Texas, as part of a human smuggling case. Three individuals fled into Mexico, and officers arrested Mayra Huerta on suspicion of harboring undocumented immigrants. Agents seized weapons and nearly $53,000 in cash.
Investigators believe one of the victims sent a text message to a relative the day before the bodies were discovered, saying the train was “really, really hot” inside. The relative alerted San Antonio police, but officers could not locate the car.
Laredo Mayor Victor Treviño urged migrants to seek safe and legal pathways, stating, “Smugglers do not care about your safety and will place you in a life-threatening situation without hesitation.” The incident echoes the 2022 tragedy in which 53 migrants died in a tractor-trailer near San Antonio.
