(Trends Wide) — A backpack containing baby items discovered during a Minnesota human smuggling investigation helped police make a devastating discovery near the US-Canadian border.
Authorities found the remains of four people, including an infant, in a field near Emerson, Manitoba, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) told reporters on Thursday. Investigators believe they froze to death while trying to reach the United States, police said.
His remains were found meters from the border, police said, and an autopsy is pending.
“This is an absolute and heartbreaking tragedy,” RCMP Deputy Commissioner Jane MacLatchy said.
The search began Wednesday morning, MacLatchy said, after police received what he described as “concerning information” from US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) about a group of people who had been detained after crossing into the United States from Canada.
“One of the adults was carrying items intended for a baby, but … no baby was found with the group,” MacLatchy said.
The backpack contained a diaper, toys and medication.
One man in the group, an Indian national identified in a US federal court filing as “VD,” told investigators the backpack he was carrying belonged to a family that had split from the group.
The backpack, according to Thursday’s filing, contained children’s clothing, children’s medication, a diaper and toys.
“VD said he was carrying the backpack for a family of four Indian nationals who had previously been hiking with his group,” says the complaint, which was filed in the United States District Court for Minnesota. “VD said his group had been separated from the family overnight and he didn’t know where the family was.”
Authorities on both sides of the border searched the remote area for hours, police said.
The victims were “left alone in the middle of a snow storm”
That information prompted a search that began quickly on both sides of the border, MacLatchy said. The remains – a man, a woman, an infant and another man believed to be a teenager – were found hours later, he said, noting that Canadian investigators were still working to identify them.
“Please understand that it will take time to identify the names, ages and nationalities of these deceased victims,” he said. “You will also notice that I am using the term ‘victims.’ And that’s on purpose.”
Investigators, he said, are concerned that the attempted crossing “may have been facilitated in some way.”
“We are very concerned … that these people, including a baby, were left alone in the middle of a blizzard, when the weather was around -35 degrees Celsius, taking into account the wind,” he said. “These victims faced not only cold weather, but also endless fields, huge blizzards and total darkness.”
The terrain was so remote and rugged, MacLatchy said, that search teams had to use all-terrain vehicles to access the area.
“It is enormously difficult. The blowing snow covers things in minutes. The snow is deep. It is almost impossible to walk through it,” he said. “Certainly evidence can be lost in those kinds of conditions… It’s a huge challenge.”
Police used ATVs to search for the group.
Police to potential immigrants: “Just don’t do it”
MacLatchy told reporters he had a message for anyone else thinking of crossing the US-Canadian border in the area, either heading south or north.
“Just don’t do it,” he said. “Don’t listen to anyone who tells you they can get you to your destination safely. They can’t. Even with the right clothes, it’s not a possible journey.”
He looked at the temperature Thursday morning in the Emerson area: minus 41 degrees Celsius with wind chill.
“At this temperature, your skin will freeze in minutes,” he said. “Yes, I understand that for some there may be a great need to reach another country, but this is not the way. If you try, you will be risking your life and the lives of the people you care about.”
An arrest while investigations continue
No one has been charged in connection with the deaths. MacLatchy promised that investigators would look into every angle of the case.
“We don’t know how these people got to Emerson, but our investigators are certainly going to be looking into all aspects of their deaths,” he said. “Because we suspect this group is linked to individuals on the US side of the border, we are working closely with US Customs and Border Protection and the US Department of Homeland Security. All of our agencies are committed to a thorough and complete investigation.”
On Thursday, US federal prosecutors announced that a Florida man found traveling on the US side of the border in a van with two undocumented foreign nationals had been charged with human smuggling.
Steve Shand, 47, was arrested by US Border Patrol agents Wednesday in a rural area between the official border ports of entry in Lancaster, Minnesota, and Pembina, North Dakota, according to the news release. from the US Department of Justice.
The two passengers in the van were Indian nationals and were in the United States illegally, according to the complaint filed in the US District Court for Minnesota.
Shand is charged with one count of “recklessly knowing or disregarding the fact that an alien had come, entered or remained in the United States in violation of law, transported and moved or attempted to transport and move such alien,” according to the complaint.
He made his first court appearance Thursday and was ordered to remain in custody pending a hearing on January 24. Shand’s attorney has not yet responded to Trends Wide’s request for comment.
Shand has not been charged in connection with the deaths and an investigation is ongoing.
The complaint filed against him in federal court reveals details about the search that led to the find.
An image released by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police shows a red circle around the area near the border where the victims’ remains were found.
The complaint describes details of the investigation
The complaint describes a group of five Indian nationals, including VD, allegedly found and arrested in the area as Shand and the passengers in the van were being transported to the Pembina Border Patrol station.
VD told investigators the group had been walking for approximately 11.5 hours and had crossed the border waiting for someone to pick them up, the complaint says. He also described the family of four who he said had been separated from the group.
The complaint says Border Patrol received word from Canadian authorities about the remains found north of the border.
“The bodies were tentatively identified as the family of four who were separated from the VD group at night,” the complaint stated.
Two people were taken to hospital
Authorities said the frigid temperatures had affected members of the group who had been detained.
Two people had to be taken to the hospital for suspected frostbite, and one of them, a woman, could lose part of her hand, the complaint says.
Meanwhile, the complaint says there is an ongoing investigation into a larger human smuggling allegation.
One of the Indian citizens told Border Patrol agents that he had paid a significant amount of money to enter Canada from India on a fraudulently obtained student visa, according to the complaint.
He added that he did not intend to study in Canada, the complaint says, but had planned to enter the US illegally and had crossed the border on foot expecting to be picked up by someone who was supposed to take him to his uncle’s house. In Chicago.
