Border Patrol Death: A Tragic Mystery - Seven Years Later
The FBI was unable to conclusively say what happened to Agent Rogelio Martinez & his partner in West Texas in November of 2017
This week marks the seventh anniversary of one of the US Border Patrol's most painful and controversial line-of-duty deaths which occurred on November 19, 2017, near the far West Texas town of Van Horn.
On November 19, 2017, six-year veteran Border Patrol Agent Rogelio Martinez was checking culverts for migrants at night in Culberson County, Texas with another Border Patrol Agent when something went horribly wrong.
His partner - Stephen Garland - called for backup telling his dispatchers that both had been seriously injured. When help arrived at their remote location 30 miles from the Mexican border - Garland -who was badly wounded -was unable to tell officers what had happened. Martinez was flown to an El Paso hospital with severe head injuries and broken bones and died a few hours later.
The investigation into what happened was still underway when President Trump implied on twitter, and the Border Patrol union stated, that the agents were attacked.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz also issued a statement two days after Martinez' death saying that the Border Patrol Agent had been fatally attacked:
A day later Texas Governor Greg Abbott offered a reward "for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person of persons responsible for (his) murder."
However, none of those who issued statements about the tragic death of Border Patrol Agent Martinez talked to Culberson County Sheriff Oscar Carrillo who was among the first to respond to Martinez' partner's call for help.
“From the beginning, we were radioed to assist in the incident as an injury, not an assault," Carrillo told the Dallas Morning News. "That’s the way it was communicated to us."
Based on what Sheriff Carillo heard on the radio - and saw when he arrived on the scene - he told NPR News he believes the agents may have been running after someone and were unaware of the ten-foot-drop-off into the culvert that was in their path.
"They just didn't see the drop-off," he said, pointing to the top of the cement tunnel. "You see, no guard railing, no reflectors, it's a dark night."
According to an FBI Investigation into the circumstances surrounding Martinez' death, Sheriff Carillo's theory about what happened appears plausible:
"Although disoriented and unsure of his location, the second Border Patrol Agent advised that both he and Agent Martinez were hurt. The second Border Patrol Agent also made a statement to the effect of, “We ran into a culvert,” “I ran into a culvert,” or “I think I ran into a culvert.” The dispatcher also wrote into a Border Patrol log, “[He] thinks they (both agents) ran into a culvert." -FBI El Paso Findings of the Investigation Into the Death of Border Patrol Agent (February 7, 2018)
Despite conducting more than 650 interviews following the Border Patrol Agent's death, however, the FBI was unable to "conclusively" determine exactly what happened that night:
"To date, this investigation has not conclusively determined how Agent Martinez and his partner ended up at the bottom of the culvert and no suspects have been linked to this incident." FBI Statement (February 7, 2018)
Agent Martinez' death remains a tragic mystery.
Abrazos,
Jack Beavers
