More bodies found in Sunland Park, NM, desert as border heat wave continues

Daniel Borunda, El Paso Times
Updated ·2 min read
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Five bodies have been found in recent days in the desert near Sunland Park, New Mexico, as a wave of extreme heat continues to scorch the Borderland.

On Sunday afternoon, two bodies were recovered from the desert off Memorial Pines Road, the Sunland Park Fire Department said via Twitter.

Sunland Park Fire Department rescue crews ride all-terrain vehicles to reach a body found in the desert off Highway 9 on Saturday near Santa Teresa, New Mexico.
Sunland Park Fire Department rescue crews ride all-terrain vehicles to reach a body found in the desert off Highway 9 on Saturday near Santa Teresa, New Mexico.

Fire Department rescue crews using all-terrain vehicles assisted Sunland Park police, the U.S. Border Patrol and the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigators in the recovery.

Immigration: Border Patrol in El Paso warns migrants against making risky illegal crossings

The bodies were generally located in the desert close to the Mexican border near human smuggling zones in the Sunland Park and Santa Teresa area, just over the New Mexico state line west of El Paso. It has not been disclosed if they were believed to have been migrants.

Other bodies found in the Sunland Park area:

Saturday: A dead person was found in the desert off Highway 9 and the Pete Domenici Highway near Santa Teresa in an incident under investigation by law enforcement, the Fire Department tweeted.

Thursday: About 1:30 a.m., a body was recovered in the desert about a mile west of the 4900 block of McNutt Road in Sunland Park, the Fire Department tweeted.

About 3:30 p.m. Thursday, another body was recovered from the desert off County Road A-20 in La Union, farther north than the other recoveries.

Names, causes of death and circumstances regarding the individual cases are under investigation.

Dangerous heat burns El Paso-Juárez Borderland

The El Paso-Juárez region was under an excessive heat warning because of dangerously hot temperatures, the National Weather Service Office stated.

The high temperature was 108 degrees in El Paso on Sunday, making it the fifth consecutive day with a temperature of 105 or hotter and the 10th consecutive day of temperatures of 100 degrees or greater, the National Weather Service Office for El Paso reported.

More: El Paso opens cooling centers as high temperatures hit Borderland

The heat warning was set to expire at midnight Monday and was to be followed by a heat advisory, with temperatures forecast to top 100 the rest of the week.

Sunland Park Fire Department rescue crews ride all-terrain vehicles to reach a body found in the desert off Highway 9 near Santa Teresa, New Mexico, on Saturday.
Sunland Park Fire Department rescue crews ride all-terrain vehicles to reach a body found in the desert off Highway 9 near Santa Teresa, New Mexico, on Saturday.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Bodies found in Sunland Park, NM, desert as border heat wave continues