This browser does not support the Video element.
6 found dead in boxcar after smuggling trip from Long Beach
It is unclear which city the immigrants were attempting to travel to or when they died.
LONG BEACH, Calif. - A shipping container that originated in California became the focal point of a federal human smuggling investigation after six migrants were found dead inside the car at a Texas rail yard.
Authorities are tracing the container's multi-state journey to understand how a commercial freight route was intercepted for a illicit and fatal human smuggling operation.
What we know:
Laredo Police Chief Miguel Rodriguez Jr. confirmed Thursday that the shipping container originally departed from Long Beach.
Two days into its transit, on Saturday, the train arrived in Del Rio, Texas, where six individuals from Mexico and Honduras were locked inside the boxcar.
From Del Rio, the train traveled to the San Antonio area before arriving Sunday afternoon at a Union Pacific rail yard in Laredo, a major border trade hub where a railroad employee discovered the bodies.
Law enforcement officials reported that five of the victims died from heatstroke and one died from hyperthermia.
Dr. Corinne Stern, the Webb County medical examiner, stated that identification cards and cellphones were recovered from the scene, and fingerprints have been shared with the U.S. Border Patrol’s Missing Alien Program to verify identities.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is leading the probe into the smuggling event with assistance from the Texas Rangers and local police.
What we don't know:
While investigators know the container originated in Long Beach and stopped in Del Rio, the complete travel history of the container and its stops between California and Texas remain unknown.
It's unclear why the individuals inside were unable to climb out of the shipping container once temperatures rose.
Authorities also discovered a seventh body along the railroad tracks on Monday in Bexar County, roughly 150 miles north of Laredo.
However, officials cannot yet confirm if this individual was connected to the victims loaded into the Long Beach container.
What they're saying:
"Union Pacific is saddened by this incident and is working closely with law enforcement to investigate," the rail company said in a statement.
What's next:
Federal investigators are focusing on the logistics of the train route, examining security footage and tracking data from its origin in Long Beach to its stops across Texas.
The medical examiner’s office is finalizing the remaining autopsies and working alongside the Mexican consulate to coordinate family notifications.
The Source: This report is compiled from verified law enforcement timelines provided by Laredo Police Chief Miguel Rodriguez Jr. and Public Information Officer Jose Baeza, who traced the container's origin back to California. Case developments, including autopsy windows and smuggling classifications, were sourced directly from statements by Webb County Medical Examiner Dr. Corinne Stern and official investigation updates released by Homeland Security Investigations and Union Pacific.