Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents found the body of a deceased migrant after he was abandoned by human smugglers near Freer, Texas.

Dispatchers in the Laredo Sector received information about a migrant left behind by smugglers after he became ill from the heat and could not keep pace. Border Patrol agents teamed up with Border Search, Rescue, and Trauma (BORSTAR) agents and air support to execute a search and rescue operation. The migrant became lost on a ranch near Freer, according to Laredo Sector Border Patrol officials.

After a search that lasted about 14 hours, agents came upon a migrant lying face down under a tree. The agents discovered he succumbed to the heat and passed away, officials stated.

The agents arranged for transportation of the victim’s body to the Webb County Medical Examiner’s office who performs autopsy services for several counties in South Texas.

Freer, Texas, is located in Duval County between Laredo and Houston. It is located along one of the primary routes from the Texas border with Mexico to Houston.

“The Laredo Sector Border Patrol will continue to warn against the dangers of people crossing illegally into the United States through dangerous environmental conditions,” Laredo Sector officials stated. “Our Border Safety Initiative (BSI) is a humanitarian, bi-national strategy designed to reduce illegal alien deaths, educate and inform potential illegal aliens of the dangers and hazards of crossing the border illegally, and to respond to those who are in life-threatening situations.”

This year, 270 migrants have died at or near the U.S.-Mexico Border. This represents an increase of nearly 11 percent over the previous years numbers for the same period, according to the Missing Migrant Project. The report reveals that 171 of those deaths occurred near the border.