Search teams on Monday recovered the body of a Texas National Guard soldier who apparently drowned three days ago while trying to save two people he believed were having trouble swimming across the Rio Grande near the southern U.S. border. Joined.
The 22-year-old soldier, Bishop E Evans, was working in Eagle Pass as part of a border security operation under the direction of the Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott. Evans’s superiors praised him as “altruistic” and condemned the people he was trying to save as suspected drug traffickers trying to enter the country without permission.
“We are devastated by the loss of a member of our Guard family,” said a statement from Texas National Guard leader Maj. Gen. Tom Suelzer. “We recognize the altruism of this heroic soldier who put his life first to that of others in the service of our state and national security.”
Evans took off his radio and bulletproof vest and dove into the Rio Grande to rescue two people he thought were drowning around 8:30 a.m. Friday. He did not resurface, leading divers and the crews of the boats to look for their trail along the river for four days.
The infamous speed of the river current forced the teams to temporarily suspend the search on at least two occasions.
The two people whom Evans was trying to help them safely across the river, and Customs and Border Protection agents of the United States arrested both people. Both are accused of being “involved in transnational illicit drug trafficking,” said a statement from the Texas Department of the Military, which manages the state’s National Guard.
Evans joined the Texas National Guard in May 2019, officials with the state military department said. He was later deployed to Kuwait and occasionally traveled to Iraq to support special operations forces.. Evans got the opportunity to work in Iraq because of his “dedication, talent and tactical ability,” Texas military officials added.
Costing an estimated $2.5 million a week, Abbott launched the border security initiative Evans was working on last year. It was the governor’s response to the increase in border crossingsdeclared a catastrophe by Abbott, allowing him to send the National Guard to the area.
Authorities say state police and national guard soldiers who are primarily responsible for the operation have detained more than 200 thousand immigrants who cross into the United States without permission for almost 12 thousand criminal charges.
However, these arrests include those that are physically far from the border, that are not related to the crimes committed on the border, and that have been made by law enforcement agencies that are not directly involved in Operation Lone Star, according to the Texas Tribune, ProPublica and the Marshall Project.
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