Border Patrol Releases Report on September 2024 Death Near Columbus
DEMING, N.M. – A statement from U.S. Customs and Border Protection was released on March 4, 2025. It deals with a death that occurred in September 2024.
DEMING – On Sept. 25, 2024, Border Patrol agents from the Deming Station responded to a sensor activation about 10 miles west of the Columbus Port of Entry. Agents encountered a group of individuals who had entered the U.S. illegally and were told that another man was in medical distress nearby.
Agents found the man face down near a bush. He said he could not stand and needed water. Emergency medical services and a Border Patrol paramedic were called, and efforts to cool him down began.
The man, later identified as a 34-year-old of unknown nationality, went into cardiac arrest while being transported to a landing zone. CPR was administered, and he was rerouted to Mimbres Memorial Hospital in Deming, where he was pronounced dead at 3:47 p.m.
The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator determined the cause of death was hyperthermia and ruled it an accident. The CBP Office of Professional Responsibility is reviewing the incident, and the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General was notified.