National Guard soldier missing after trying to rescue migrants in river
Razor wire lines the area near the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Nov. 19, 2021. (Photo by SERGIO FLORES/AFP via Getty Images)
A Texas National Guard soldier has gone missing while trying to rescue migrants in the Rio Grande at the state’s border with Mexico on Friday.
"A Texas Army National Guard Soldier assigned to Operation Lone Star has gone missing," the Texas Military Department said in a statement.
"The Soldier has not been found," the statement said, calling reports of a fatality "inaccurate."
Law enforcement sources initially told Fox News that the service member had drowned. However, the sources later said that the body that had been recovered was in fact a migrant and not the missing soldier.
The search is being treated as a drowning, and dive teams are still searching the water since the service member was not seen resurfacing from the river, sources told Fox News.
The Maverick County Sheriff told Fox News that the soldier went missing in the water at around 8:30 a.m. local time while he was trying to save a female migrant. That migrant survived and is now in Border Patrol custody. However, the soldier still has not been located after more than six hours of searching.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott released a statement on the missing soldier.
"The Texas Governor’s office continues to work with the Texas National Guard and other law enforcement agencies as they search for the missing soldier," the statement said. "Updates will be provided as additional details become available."