Dehydration May be Cause of Woman, Children's Death along Border
According to Hidalgo County Sheriff Eddie Guerra, the bodies appear to be two infants, a toddler and a 20 year-old woman.
The area is known to have high traffic by immigrants looking to cross the border illegally.
At the moment, it is unclear who the bodies are of and why they were discovered near a brushy area.
Law enforcement officials tell CHANNEL 5 NEWS they are still conducting an investigation, but do not see any indication of foul play.
Investigators believe based on preliminary information, the woman and the children may have succumbed to dehydration.
The FBI released this statement:
"It's an incredibly heart breaking situation, which seems to happen far too often. Four bodies were found. Three of the deceased are children; one toddler and two infants. The fourth is an adult female. Because the bodies were located on federal land the FBI will assume the lead in the investigation, but we will continue to coordinate with our law enforcement partners.
On background, there are no early indicators of foul play. It appears they may have died from dehydration and heat exposure. While we have not identified the victims it appears they are undocumented immigrants; country of origin not yet determined. I believe next steps will be autopsy to determine cause and manner of death. Once we identify them, we will notify the consulate. The consulate notifies next of kin. Then we will release names."
Watch the news clip above for further details.