Border Patrol agents have discovered the bodies of three people in the Tumacacori Mountains, at least two of whom had been shot.
Sheriff Antonio Estrada said the Border Patrol notified his office at about 11 a.m. on Monday to report the discovery of three dead males in the Devil’s Canyon area. “Two were definitely shot and a third body was found about 10 yards away,” Estrada said. “We can only assume the third person died of gunshot wounds as well.”
Estrada said the bodies were found 4.2 miles west of Interstate 19. “To get there we have to go through Arivaca Road to Mile Post 15 and work our way in” to the remote area, he said.
The Criminal Investigation Division and Santa Cruz County Metro officers were on their way shortly after 1 p.m. when Estrada was interviewed. “We don’t have a lot of information. We think it may be drug related – they may have been backpackers.”
Estrada was referring to drug smugglers who tie their loads onto their backs as they trek through the desert to remote pick-up points. The sheriff suspects the trio may have been “ripped off.”
Other incidents
Santa Cruz County sheriff’s deputies have already investigated at least four incidents in the past two months in which groups of illegal border-crossers reported encounters with armed men in the wilderness corridor stretching from the Ruby-Arivaca area to the Tumacacori Mountains.
In addition, authorities recovered a set of skeletal remains from the Tumacacori Mountains on Nov. 8, two days after they were discovered by hunters. On Nov. 15, Border Patrol agents working in the Peck Mesa area west of Rio Rico discovered several human bones. Both of those cases are under investigation.
Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed by suspected border bandits in the same general area on Dec. 14, 2010. Terry and his special tactical unit had been deployed to the area following a similar spate of armed robberies and encounters reported by illegal border-crossers.
Updates to come
AnonymousUser posted at 7:34 pm on Wed, Nov 23, 2011.
Just doing the job U.S. citizens and LEGAL immigrants won't do!
dr posted at 6:23 pm on Mon, Nov 21, 2011.
New tourist publicity slogan:
Santa Cruz County; Getting Safer Everyday.
Ain't that right, Sheriff.
AnonymousUser posted at 5:18 pm on Mon, Nov 21, 2011.
Way to jump to conclusions Sheriff Eri Estrada!