Mass Mexican Immigrant Graves Uncovered In Texas, 110 Unidentified Bodies Exhumed

A mass grave has been uncovered at a South Texas cemetery, suspected to contain the remains of 110 Mexican citizens who died en-route to the U.S.

The remains, which were found at the Sacred Heart Burial Park in Falfurrias during the last two weeks by anthropologist Lori Baker from Baylor University and Krista Lathamcame, a forensic anthropologist at the University of Indianapolis, are part of an effort to identify the immigrants spanning many years.

It was reported by The Corpus Christi Caller Times that in one burial, the remains of three bodies were found inside a body bag. In another, five people’s bones were found in body bags, as well as small plastic bags.

In total, 110 unidentified bodies were exhumed from the site in 2013, but researchers have now found an additional 52 bodies that need to be exhumed for DNA testing and research. According to the report, some remains were located under temporary grave markers which bore the name of the local funeral home, Funeraria del Angel Howard-Williams.

County officials say they pay the funeral home to bury bodies found in the most remote parts of South Texas, an area rife with illegal immigrants from Mexico and Central America. At least 300 people died crossing through Brooks County alone in the two years between 2011-13.

Service Corporation International Spokeswoman Jessica McDunn said:

“No matter if this is one of our client families we serve on a traditional basis or a migrant family’s loved one we’re serving and we don’t have any identification of the loved one, I do want to let you know it is our policy to treat the decedent with care, to treat them just like we would treat anyone else.”

She continued that the funeral home has “certain records related to these burials, but this does not amount to confirmation that Howard-Williams was involved in depositing the remains in the manner the researchers described.”

An immigrant rights advocate, Eddie Canales, said of the situation: “I think it’s very hard for people to connect in the fact that these were human beings. It just goes to the language, to the words, and words mean a lot: ‘All these were illegals.’ Even in death, they wound up not getting the proper respect.”