SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS: A distressed police officer called for help at the scene where a truckload of migrant bodies was found in Texas, saying there were “too many bodies” to handle. The request came at a time when San Antonio cops were using police radios amid the search for the driver of the tractor-trailer, who had fled. “I have too many bodies here,” the unidentified officer reportedly said.
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One of the cops released his description while searching for the driver amid the tragedy, Homero Zamorano, who was allegedly “very high on meth” at the time, according to the San Antonio Express-News. “Hefty Hispanic man. He might be wearing a brown shirt,” the cop said. Another cop reportedly said the driver might have a teardrop tattoo on his face and a rabbit on his neck.
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Zamorano, who was later arrested, was identified by a black striped shirt. A hat he was wearing matched a surveillance tape made at an immigration checkpoint he had previously passed through. A photo of the driver that surfaced on social media showed him smiling as he leaned into the driver’s side.
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A long criminal history in the United States for Homero Zamorano, the man who, according to Mexican authorities, led the large platform where 53 migrants died.
Among the charges in the case are reckless injury to elderly people and multiple drug offences.
One of his previous arrests happened in Houston in 2004. pic.twitter.com/4OP6byYJxj
— Marcelino Benito (@MarcelinoKHOU) June 29, 2022
Christian Martinez, a 28-year-old man suspected of being his accomplice, told authorities that Zamorano was unaware that an air conditioning unit in the trailer had stopped working. Text messages between Zamorano and Martinez that were obtained revealed that Martinez allegedly used a code to ask Zamorano, “Where are you?” The message reportedly read, “Wya, bro.”
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At least 46 migrants were found dead on Monday June 27 inside a semi-trailer truck on a Texas road. The bodies were found inside the 18-wheeler on Quintana Road in San Antonio. As many as 16 survivors were initially rushed to area hospitals in various conditions, but some of them later died. The death toll has now risen to over 51.
Authorities have so far identified at least 27 Mexicans, seven Guatemalans and two Hondurans, according to Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard and Mexican Consul Ruben Minutti-Zanatta. The nationalities of the other victims have not yet been identified. Among the dead migrants are 39 men and 21 women, officials confirmed. The sisters, Carla and Griselda Carac Tambriz – originally from the canton of Colcajá, Nahualá, Sololá in Guatemala – died in the truck carrying around 100 people across the Mexican border to the United States.
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The truck driver, who initially fled, was apprehended by authorities in a nearby field. He was taken into federal custody. Two other suspects were arrested and authorities said one of them was a US citizen. First responders said they approached the vehicle and found “piles of bodies” which were allegedly sprinkled with steak seasoning to hide the smell of the migrants’ rotting corpses.
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The survivors were rescued from the 18-wheeler which apparently had no air conditioning or refrigeration. On Monday, temperatures in San Antonio peaked at 103 degrees. First responders said the people were suffering from heat stroke.
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