{"id":47243,"date":"2025-06-16T17:20:03","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T00:20:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/?p=47243"},"modified":"2025-06-16T17:20:06","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T00:20:06","slug":"deaths-in-the-new-mexico-desert-surge-after-texas-border-crackdown-reaches-el-paso","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/deaths-in-the-new-mexico-desert-surge-after-texas-border-crackdown-reaches-el-paso\/","title":{"rendered":"Deaths in the New Mexico desert surge after Texas\u2019 border crackdown reaches El Paso"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

Since El Paso joined Operation Lone Star in 2022, migrant remains discovered in the desert west of the city have increased every year, even as they have declined in every other border sector.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This story<\/a> was originally published at Source New Mexico<\/a>, a NMPBS partner.<\/strong><\/em> This article is co-published and co-reported by Source New Mexico and The Texas Tribune<\/a>, independent nonprofit newsrooms.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Two
Do\u00f1a Ana County Sheriff Deputy N. Al-Abayad, left, and Detective Alan Barbosa transport a body bag containing the bones of a migrant, first found by volunteers with Battalion Search and Rescue, on May 3, 2025. The discovery of migrant bodies in the desert has spiked since El Paso joined Texas\u2019 Operation Lone Star. (Photo by Justin Hamel \/ Texas Tribune)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Uriel J. Garc\u00eda, Texas Tribune; Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico; Yuriko Schumacher, Texas Tribune and Photos by Justin Hamel, Texas Tribune<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editor\u2019s note: This story includes images of skeletal human remains found by volunteers in the desert.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SANTA TERESA, New Mexico \u2014 On a hot morning in September, after hours of trekking through the Chihuahuan desert, Abbey Carpenter and her partner James Holeman spotted a pile of scattered bones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Near a yucca plant, a human jawbone lay partially buried in the sand. Around it were vertebrae, femurs and ribs. Next to the bones, they saw a woman\u2019s purple underwear with two tiny hearts on the corner and a Salvadoran passport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bones were among six sets of human remains they found that month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carpenter and Holeman founded a volunteer group in 2020 called Battalion Search and Rescue to search for migrant bodies in this patch of desert just west of El Paso. They took photos and recorded the coordinates on their cell phone. They tied a pink ribbon to a nearby branch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later, they mailed the passport to the Salvadoran consulate and reported the body to the Do\u00f1a Ana County Sheriff\u2019s Office in New Mexico \u2014 even though the sheriff sometimes doesn\u2019t respond and has accused volunteers of planting bones in the desert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since September 2023, the group has found 27 sites with human remains in the desert, Holeman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow did we get to this place as a country that we think so poorly of migrants?\u201d Carpenter said during a recent search in the desert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Historically, Border Patrol\u2019s El Paso sector \u2014 which includes all 180 miles of New Mexico\u2019s border with Mexico and 84 miles of El Paso and Hudspeth counties in West Texas \u2014 has had among the fewest migrant deaths across the southern border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That changed in late December 2022<\/a>, according to an investigation by The Texas Tribune and Source New Mexico, when the city of El Paso joined forces with Gov. Greg Abbott to participate in his signature border mission, called Operation Lone Star.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 2024, the El Paso sector had become the deadliest place for migrants to cross along the entire U.S.-Mexico border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From January 2023 to August 2024, 299 human remains were reported in the El Paso sector, the most of any sector along the southern border, according to the most recent data available from federal government data. That\u2019s more than double the number of cases reported during the 20 months prior, when 122 remains were recorded before El Paso had adopted Operation Lone Star.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since El Paso joined Texas\u2019 border mission in 2022, migrant remains discovered in the El Paso sector have increased every year, even as they have declined in every other part of the border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have people dying in New Mexico deserts because of Texas policies,\u201d said New Mexico state Rep. Sarah Silva, a Democrat from nearby Las Cruces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Abbey Carpenter, a member of Battalion Search and Rescue, ties a ribbon to a plant, marking the location of a human skull in the desert outside of Santa Teresa, New Mexico on Jan. 25, 2025.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Though many factors determine where and when someone crosses an international border \u2014 including federal immigration policies, organized crime and natural disasters \u2014 experts and advocates say any policy that pushes migrants into the desert will likely cost lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immigrant rights groups and researchers say more migrants are taking deadlier routes to enter the country since Texas launched Operation Lone Star in 2021 \u2014 flooding the border with state troopers, National Guard and miles of razor wire \u2014 as the federal government\u2019s ever changing immigration policies have delayed or blocked migrants who want to claim asylum in the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAny state lawmaker or local leader should be aware that these policies come at a human cost,\u201d said Aim\u00e9e Santill\u00e1n, a policy analyst at the Hope Border Institute, an immigrant rights advocacy group in El Paso. \u201cSo anyone that decides to approach this type of enforcement is making a decision that they can live with these deaths.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, bodies lie in the desert, unidentified, for months at a time. Eight months after Carpenter and Holeman\u2019s group reported the set of six remains to authorities, many of the bones were still there. It remains unclear how New Mexico state and local officials intend to address the need for more resources to retrieve and identify the bodies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The striking increase in deaths in the New Mexico and West Texas desert is part of a global surge in migration. According to United Nations<\/a> statistics from 2024, the number of immigrants worldwide has doubled since 1990, with 304 million people living in a country other than the one in which they were born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year was also the deadliest<\/a> on record for migrants worldwide, according to the UN\u2019s International Organization for Migration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe rise in deaths is terrible in and of itself, but the fact that thousands remain unidentified each year is even more tragic,\u201d said Julia Black, coordinator of IOM\u2019s Missing Migrants Project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neither the Trump administration nor elected officials from Texas or New Mexico have addressed the issue, even as the number of bodies discovered has skyrocketed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abbott\u2019s office blamed former President Joe Biden\u2019s \u201copen-border policies\u201d for the loss of life when asked for comment. \u201cThe heartbreaking increase in deaths is the direct result of the chaos President Biden unleashed on the border,\u201d said Andrew Mahaleris, Abbott\u2019s press secretary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham also laid the blame on the federal government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile state officials are sometimes called upon to respond to emergencies, immigration remains a federal responsibility. Gov. Lujan Grisham has consistently called on every administration \u2014 Trump, Biden, and now Trump again \u2014 to fulfill federal obligations at the border and provide adequate resources for humanitarian and law enforcement efforts,\u201d her spokesperson Jodi McGinnis Porter said in an email. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Giving families closure<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Holeman, 67, started volunteering with a search and rescue group in 2018 named Aguilas del Desierto \u2014 which is Spanish for \u201cthe Desert Eagles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holeman, a retired Marine veteran, said that as part of his military experience, he saw other countries returning dead American soldiers back to their families. He recognized the U.S. government doesn\u2019t provide the same benefit to the families of migrants, so he wanted to help fill this gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He and Carpenter, 60, chose the New Mexico-Mexico border because it\u2019s an area where groups in California, Arizona and Texas don\u2019t come to regularly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They named the group Battalion Search and Rescue, named for St. Patrick\u2019s Battalion, an Irish immigrant military unit that defected from the U.S. to fight with the Mexicans in the U.S.-Mexico War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once a month, a group of self-trained volunteers scours the desert for lost and missing migrants. The goal is to help save lives when they can, but for those who can\u2019t be saved, they hope to provide closure for families who want to be reunited with their loved ones and given an opportunity for a proper burial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just trying to fill a gap where the government is falling short,\u201d Holeman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among those whom the group has helped reunite with family is Ada Guadalupe L\u00f3pez Montoya of El Salvador, who died at the age of 33 last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last time her family heard from her, L\u00f3pez Montoya was in Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez, preparing to cross the border into El Paso \u2014 her second attempt to enter the United States. When she stopped responding to her family, they called the Armadillos Search and Rescue, a San Diego-based humanitarian group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cesar Ortigoza, 51, who co-founded that rescue group, called Holeman in New Mexico to ask if their group had found L\u00f3pez Montoya, who had been reported missing since July 2023. Holeman searched his records and found that he had come across her passport, located next to human remains in September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two months later, Ortigoza flew to El Paso, drove to Santa Teresa, New Mexico, and hiked 3 miles to the site. He called the Do\u00f1a Ana County Sheriff\u2019s Office to report that the remains may belong to L\u00f3pez Montoya, whose family had been searching for her for over a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sheriff\u2019s Office sent officials from the New Mexico Office of Medical Investigator, who arrived about eight hours later to recover the remains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs an immigrant myself, it\u2019s important that families know what happened to their loved ones,\u201d Ortigoza said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Volunteers with Battalion Search and Rescue search for migrants\u2019 remains near Santa Teresa, New Mexico \u2014 just west of El Paso \u2014 on April 26, 2025. (Photo by Justin Hamel \/ Texas Tribune)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"A
James Holeman co-founded the volunteer group with his partner. He said his military experience made him value reuniting the dead with their families back home.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"A
Volunteers look at the map ahead of the day\u2019s search<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Countless other families are still waiting for news of relatives who have disappeared while crossing the border. Some turn to Facebook, creating groups titled \u201cDesaparec\u00ed cruzando la frontera,\u201d Spanish for \u201cI disappeared crossing the border,\u201d with fliers depicting loved ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among them is 41-year-old Laura Tavares Vazquez of Guanajuato, Mexico. For nearly three years, her family has repeatedly posted a flyer with the coordinates of where she was last seen near Santa Teresa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tavares Vazquez, who left her children behind, had called a relative from the desert to tell her she wouldn\u2019t make it, the family wrote in a post. She felt weak and had an unbearable thirst that kept her from walking. A group she was hiking with through the desert left her behind on June 11, 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s when our nightmare began,\u201d the family wrote on Facebook. \u201cIt\u2019s such a hopeless feeling not knowing what happened to her, where she is, if she\u2019s okay, who has her and why, or where did they leave her behind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A relative, through a family spokesperson, declined to be interviewed, explaining that over the years, people have attempted to extort the family \u2014 offering to find Tavares Vazquez if the family pays an undisclosed amount of money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Texas\u2019 militarized border<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In March 2021, Abbott announced Operation Lone Star, a military mission to deter immigrants from crossing the Rio Grande illegally. As part of this multibillion-dollar mission, Abbott sent hundreds of National Guard soldiers and state troopers to different parts of the 1,200-mileTexas-Mexico border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of fiscal year 2022, six months after the state border mission began, Border Patrol reported finding 651 bodies along the Texas-Mexico border, more than triple the total from just three years prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maverick County, home to Eagle Pass, quickly saw an increase in migrant bodies washing up onto the American side of the Rio Grande. In summer 2023<\/a>, Abbott deployed a 1,000-foot barrier there, made up of buoys to block migrants from crossing the river. That same summer, Mexican authorities reported a migrant had been found dead \u2014 stuck to one of the floating orange spheres.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The number of migrant bodies discovered on the riverbank of the Rio Grande in Maverick County jumped from 51 in 2021 to 132 the following year, according to data compiled by Stephanie Leutert, the director of the Mexico Security Initiative at the University of Texas at Austin and a former State Department official under Biden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

El Paso, a binational Democratic stronghold, resisted for more than a year issuing a disaster declaration that would have resulted in joining Operation Lone Star, in part because officials disagreed with Abbott\u2019s military approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That changed toward the end of 2022, when thousands of migrants crossed the border from Ju\u00e1rez into El Paso, forcing the county and city to scramble to find enough shelter space for those sleeping on the streets after Border Patrol processed and released them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Texas border cities and counties were incentivized to join the border because they would get state funding and other resources. By joining Operation Lone Star, then-El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser hoped to get state-sponsored buses to transport migrants out of the city and take the pressure off the overflowing shelters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abbott quickly sent state police and National Guard soldiers to El Paso and rolled out miles of concertina wire on the banks of the Rio Grande between El Paso and Ju\u00e1rez. The soldiers also began firing pepper balls, a chemical irritant, at migrants to deter them from crossing the river.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Texas National Guard troops prevent a group of primarily Venezuelan people who\u2019d crossed the international border from turning themselves in to Border Patrol agents in El Paso on Dec. 20, 2022, the first week Texas law enforcement arrived in the city under Operation Lone Star.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"A
Migrants make their way along miles of concertina wire deployed by the Texas National Guard under Operation Lone Star in El Paso on April 2, 2024.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"A
A member of the Texas National Guard tells people to return to Mexico after they\u2019d crossed into Eagle Pass, Texas, from Piedras Negras, Mexico, on Nov. 18, 2023.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sophia Genovese, an attorney with the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center, said last fall she represented a man in his 30s who was deported to Mexico and later crossed the Rio Grande from Ju\u00e1rez into El Paso. She said the man, who had grown up in Tennessee, tried to explain to soldiers that he was seeking asylum and wanted to surrender to Border Patrol agents. The soldiers, Genovese said, shot him with rubber bullets. He was eventually able to get past soldiers and turn himself into Border Patrol, Genovese said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really concerned. We\u2019ve had clients in the past who enter through the El Paso port of entry, or near the El Paso port of entry, who are being subjected to really intense violence by the National Guard,\u201d she said. \u201cTexas is very keen on participating in those enforcement operations. We\u2019re going to see more loss of life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leeser declined to comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

El Paso City Council member Josh Acevedo, who has opposed the city\u2019s participation in Operation Lone Star, said the effects of the border mission in this area should serve as an example that this type of enforcement causes more harm than good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said Abbott should collaborate with New Mexico in preventing these deaths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut how do you get the governor of Texas, who is full of theatrics and lacks solutions, to be collaborative?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

History repeating<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Adam Isacson, a regional security expert at the Washington Office on Latin America, said smugglers take advantage of such clampdowns on the American side, making promises to vulnerable people, who are desperate to enter the U.S., that they can guide them around the blockades for a fee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe use of New Mexico in particular, really seems to have increased when Operation Lone Star put more people on the line, and it was just harder to turn yourself in the El Paso city limits,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trend has repeated itself for decades across the southwest border under Democratic and Republican administrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe prediction is that with traditional entry and smuggling routes disrupted, illegal traffic will be deterred, or forced over more hostile terrain, less suited for crossing and more suited for enforcement,\u201d according to a Border Patrol plan<\/a> from 1994 signed off by Doris Meissner, the former commissioner of U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1993, El Paso Sector Border Patrol Chief Silvestre Reyes launched Operation Hold the Line, which at the time used a novel approach to deter illegal immigration in the popular crossing point: a visible blockade of Border Patrol agents spaced along the border with Ju\u00e1rez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The approach sent apprehensions plummeting by 76% by the end of fiscal year 1994 in the sector. The Clinton administration decided to try it in the San Diego sector, which at the time accounted for 42% of apprehensions<\/a> along the southern border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the new vigilance in San Diego and El Paso quickly shifted the migrant flows to the Tucson sector in Arizona, which saw apprehensions increase by nearly 600% between 1992 and 2004, according to Border Patrol data.<\/a> Migrants increasingly looked for other places to cross, and that often led them through remote terrain where they could easily run out of water and die of dehydration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2009 congressional report<\/a> found that these operations led to more deaths in rural areas of the border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne unintended consequence of this enforcement posture and the shift in migration patterns has been an increase in the number of migrant deaths each year; on average 200 migrants died each year in the early 1990s, compared with 472 migrant deaths in 2005,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meissner, who is now a senior fellow and director of the U.S. immigration policy program at the nonpartisan think tank Migration Policy Institute, has said she regrets this strategy because of the increase in migrant deaths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Border Patrol expected that there would be crossings in areas that were more dangerous. They didn\u2019t expect that it would be in the numbers that ultimately materialized. Migrants are in desperate circumstances, they make desperate choices,\u201d she said in a 2019 interview with The New York Times.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
The director of Air and Marine Operations El Paso sector, John Stonehouse, patrols along Highway 9, a busy smuggling route in a remote region of southern New Mexico on Dec. 14, 2021.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"A
Mt. Cristo Rey in Sunland Park, New Mexico, as seen from a U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter on Dec. 14, 2021. Mt. Cristo Rey is a common area for migrants and smugglers to enter the United States in the El Paso sector.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"A
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, along with the Department of Defense\u2019s Joint Task Force Southern Border, hold a press conference after deploying two M1126 Infantry Carrier Vehicles to the El Paso sector in the U.S.-Mexico border in Sunland Park, New Mexico, on March 28, 2025.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s nearly impossible to determine how many people have died trekking through the desert. In part because bodies will deteriorate over time if they\u2019re not found. Congress requires Border Patrol to collect data on how many migrants have died. But the U.S. Government Accountability Office<\/a> found that the Border Patrol \u201chas not collected and recorded, or reported to Congress, complete data on migrant deaths.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bryce Peterson, a volunteer and researcher with No More Deaths, an Arizona search group, said such groups have taken on the responsibility of collecting data because the federal government isn\u2019t doing its job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThings like the El Paso sector migrant death database are really filling in for what should be a government function, but government has failed miserably at it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Mexico response<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As deaths continued to increase year after year, New Mexico\u2019s border counties and state agencies have been unprepared for the task of finding and collecting migrants\u2019 bodies \u2014 or unwilling to tackle it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Mexico\u2019s 180-mile border with Mexico is rural Chihuahuan desert, and the rough terrain should be a deterrent for many, said Michael Brown, a Luna County Sheriff captain, who has found migrant bodies. But with the border crackdown in Texas, Brown said his state needs to prepare itself because he expects more immigrants crossing through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe [New Mexico] governor is going to have to come to the realization that this is something that potentially could happen,\u201d he said. \u201cThe federal government is going to have to realize that they\u2019ve created a vacuum. They\u2019re going to have to deal with this eventually themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement, a spokesperson for the governor\u2019s office said State Police perform more than 100 humanitarian rescues each summer in response to reports, demonstrating her office\u2019s commitment to preserving life \u201cregardless of circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the governor\u2019s office did not address questions about whether officials have a plan to search for, identify and repatriate remains when local or federal officials won\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than one in four bodies found in New Mexico since 2021 is unidentified, according to an Tribune and Source analysis. In Texas, just under 7% of the people found in that period are unidentified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lujan Grisham\u2019s office did not respond to a question about why that might be, though a spokesperson said that sites where bodies are discovered are often potential crime scenes. As a result, proper investigative protocols must be followed before repatriation can occur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Battalion Search and Rescue volunteers meet at the parking lot of a Love\u2019s truck stop in Santa Teresa on April 26, 2025.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Four
Volunteers sweep the landscape in a line formation searching for migrant remains on Jan. 25, 2025.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"A
Holeman calls the Do\u00f1a Ana County Sheriff\u2019s Office to collect human remains found outside of Santa Teresa, New Mexico, on May 3, 2025.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In Texas, counties spend an average of $13,100 per case to collect, investigate and bury remains, according to a May 2020 University of Texas report. Though, some border counties have taken shortcuts to reduce that cost, such as not ordering an autopsy or DNA test, the report says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In New Mexico, the medical investigator\u2019s office said it has not tracked migrant deaths in the past because the number of bodies was so low. But with the recent increase in remains being found, the state will need to address the issue soon by hiring more medical investigators to avoid a backlog that would delay the identification process, according to a research article by New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Mexico Sen. Crystal Diamond, R-Elephant Butte, who sponsored a failed bill in the last legislative session that would have appropriated state funds to help with humanitarian efforts, said border counties in the state need help addressing the large increase in deaths at the border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think what people don\u2019t want to talk about is the cost of the humanitarian efforts, and it is the counties bearing that weight,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McGinnis Porter, the governor\u2019s spokesperson, said in a statement that another challenge is that migration patterns are complex and ever-changing, \u201cdriven by multiple factors, with cartels and human trafficking organizations choosing routes and drop-off locations that change frequently.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAny loss of life is a tragedy, and our hearts go out to the families of those who have died crossing into New Mexico,\u201d McGinnis Porter added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"A
Tambri Hunteman, a field deputy with the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator, takes photographs of skeletal remains.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"A
Detective Barbosa places evidence bags containing the bones of a migrant.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Two
Deputy Al-Abayad, left, and Hunteman collect a human skull found by the volunteer group.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Do\u00f1a Ana County, which is immediately west of El Paso, has 10 field deputy medical investigators \u2014 the most of any county in New Mexico \u2014 but \u201cthey may be overwhelmed by the increased numbers of deaths,\u201d a medical investigators\u2019 research article<\/a> says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carpenter and Holeman say that they\u2019ve called the Do\u00f1a Ana County Sheriff\u2019s Office to report remains they\u2019ve found. But her office has told them they don\u2019t have deputies to respond, they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do\u00f1a Ana County Sheriff Kim Stewart has said that bodies found in her jurisdiction are not her priority. She has also dismissed Carpenter and Holeman\u2019s efforts, saying she believes they are spreading misinformation and planting bones. She has also suggested the volunteers are discovering prehistoric bones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stewart\u2019s office did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know where they come from. I don\u2019t know how long they\u2019ve been there. I don\u2019t know if they\u2019ve been planted there,\u201d she told KTSM, a local TV station.<\/a> \u201cIf [the volunteers] are not going to stand by until we arrive, because [they] are too busy roaming the desert looking for I don\u2019t know what, we\u2019re not going to take these very seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A haunting encounter<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Longtime rancher Nancy Clopton is still haunted by the sight of a dead woman she found on her property years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clopton was tending to the water tank for her cattle in the New Mexico desert 100 miles west of El Paso. Temperatures in that stretch of desert near Hachita hit 110 degrees that week in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She walked along the curved edge of the 50,000-gallon steel tank and was startled to see a person, dressed in camo, seated on its concrete skirt. She couldn\u2019t quite make out the person\u2019s face, but she guessed she was looking at a young woman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI yelled at her several times and got fairly close, maybe from here to that fence,\u201d she said in a recent interview near her ranch, pointing about 20 feet away. \u201cShe wasn\u2019t responding in any way, and I didn\u2019t feel comfortable going up and actually touching her or trying to do something. Because to me, it was fairly obvious that she was dead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clopton rushed inside and told her husband about the body and then called a contact at the Border Patrol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon after she led the agent to the water tank, a parade of border patrol agents, state troopers and medical examiners arrived. They interviewed her and collected the woman\u2019s remains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the days following, an agent told her the woman was from Mexico, but that\u2019s all she ever learned about the woman, whom she still thinks about regularly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After authorities left, Clopton was unsure what to do with the woman\u2019s belongings and what she described as possible biohazards left behind. A crime scene cleanup company in El Paso told her it would cost up to $6,000 to clean the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So she felt she had no choice but to take drastic action, she said. \u201cMy husband took a bucket with five gallons of gasoline in it, and he lit it on fire,\u201d she said of the woman\u2019s final resting place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ranchers who raise cattle near the border wall said there is no protocol for who to call when they find a person\u2019s body, and they pointed to Clopton\u2019s experience as an example of how ranchers are left on their own to deal with the humanitarian crisis. They also echoed calls for better cell and radio tower infrastructure in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The woman Clopton found is Gabriela Ortiz Moreno, according to the autopsy report. She was 30 years old, from Mexico. Among her belongings was a notebook, jewelry and a pack of cookies. Whether her family ever learned of her passing is unclear. A spokesperson for the Mexican Consulate said that the information is confidential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investigative summaries also suggest she was seeking shade at the water tank, because \u201cNo rain or any type of cloud covering was available to the decedent,\u201d an investigating officer wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s terribly sad that people would be that desperate to come and that ill-prepared,\u201d Clopton said. \u201cThey really don\u2019t understand at all what they\u2019re facing. This is the Chihuahuan Desert.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Justin Hamel contributed to this report<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story was originally published at Source New Mexico<\/a>, a NMPBS partner.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since El Paso joined Operation Lone Star in 2022, migrant remains discovered in the desert west of the city have increased every year, even as they have declined in every other border sector. This story was originally published at Source New Mexico, a NMPBS partner. This article is co-published and co-reported by Source New Mexico…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":47248,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10906],"tags":[10907],"class_list":["post-47243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-partner-stories","tag-partner-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nDeaths in the New Mexico desert surge after Texas\u2019 border crackdown reaches El Paso - New Mexico In Focus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/deaths-in-the-new-mexico-desert-surge-after-texas-border-crackdown-reaches-el-paso\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Deaths in the New Mexico desert surge after Texas\u2019 border crackdown reaches El Paso - New Mexico In Focus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Since El Paso joined Operation Lone Star in 2022, migrant remains discovered in the desert west of the city have increased every year, even as they have declined in every other border sector. This story was originally published at Source New Mexico, a NMPBS partner. This article is co-published and co-reported by Source New Mexico…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/deaths-in-the-new-mexico-desert-surge-after-texas-border-crackdown-reaches-el-paso\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"New Mexico In Focus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-17T00:20:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-17T00:20:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Body-Bag.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"24 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/deaths-in-the-new-mexico-desert-surge-after-texas-border-crackdown-reaches-el-paso\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/deaths-in-the-new-mexico-desert-surge-after-texas-border-crackdown-reaches-el-paso\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/797f4ab557a7e548b4bb5762c64a5f57\"},\"headline\":\"Deaths in the New Mexico desert surge after Texas\u2019 border crackdown reaches El Paso\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-17T00:20:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-17T00:20:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/deaths-in-the-new-mexico-desert-surge-after-texas-border-crackdown-reaches-el-paso\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":4568,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/deaths-in-the-new-mexico-desert-surge-after-texas-border-crackdown-reaches-el-paso\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/Body-Bag.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Partner Stories\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Partner Stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/deaths-in-the-new-mexico-desert-surge-after-texas-border-crackdown-reaches-el-paso\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/deaths-in-the-new-mexico-desert-surge-after-texas-border-crackdown-reaches-el-paso\\\/\",\"name\":\"Deaths in the New Mexico desert surge after Texas\u2019 border crackdown reaches El Paso - New Mexico In Focus\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/deaths-in-the-new-mexico-desert-surge-after-texas-border-crackdown-reaches-el-paso\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/deaths-in-the-new-mexico-desert-surge-after-texas-border-crackdown-reaches-el-paso\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/Body-Bag.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-17T00:20:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-17T00:20:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/797f4ab557a7e548b4bb5762c64a5f57\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/deaths-in-the-new-mexico-desert-surge-after-texas-border-crackdown-reaches-el-paso\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/deaths-in-the-new-mexico-desert-surge-after-texas-border-crackdown-reaches-el-paso\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/deaths-in-the-new-mexico-desert-surge-after-texas-border-crackdown-reaches-el-paso\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/Body-Bag.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/Body-Bag.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080,\"caption\":\"Do\u00f1a Ana County Sheriff Deputy N. Al-Abayad, left, and Detective Alan Barbosa transport a body bag containing the bones of a migrant, first found by volunteers with Battalion Search and Rescue, on May 3, 2025. The discovery of migrant bodies in the desert has spiked since El Paso joined Texas\u2019 Operation Lone Star. (Photo by Justin Hamel \\\/ Texas Tribune)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/deaths-in-the-new-mexico-desert-surge-after-texas-border-crackdown-reaches-el-paso\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Deaths in the New Mexico desert surge after Texas\u2019 border crackdown reaches El Paso\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/\",\"name\":\"New Mexico In Focus\",\"description\":\"Involved, Informed, In-depth Journalism\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/797f4ab557a7e548b4bb5762c64a5f57\",\"name\":\"Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f01b38a3c4cd0876e9182849ca6091d18e233409cbf3e59ba66506c9ec54c7f9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f01b38a3c4cd0876e9182849ca6091d18e233409cbf3e59ba66506c9ec54c7f9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f01b38a3c4cd0876e9182849ca6091d18e233409cbf3e59ba66506c9ec54c7f9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/author\\\/patricklohmann\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Deaths in the New Mexico desert surge after Texas\u2019 border crackdown reaches El Paso - New Mexico In Focus","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/deaths-in-the-new-mexico-desert-surge-after-texas-border-crackdown-reaches-el-paso\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Deaths in the New Mexico desert surge after Texas\u2019 border crackdown reaches El Paso - New Mexico In Focus","og_description":"Since El Paso joined Operation Lone Star in 2022, migrant remains discovered in the desert west of the city have increased every year, even as they have declined in every other border sector. This story was originally published at Source New Mexico, a NMPBS partner. This article is co-published and co-reported by Source New Mexico…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/deaths-in-the-new-mexico-desert-surge-after-texas-border-crackdown-reaches-el-paso\/","og_site_name":"New Mexico In Focus","article_published_time":"2025-06-17T00:20:03+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-17T00:20:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Body-Bag.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico","Est. reading time":"24 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/deaths-in-the-new-mexico-desert-surge-after-texas-border-crackdown-reaches-el-paso\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/deaths-in-the-new-mexico-desert-surge-after-texas-border-crackdown-reaches-el-paso\/"},"author":{"name":"Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico","@id":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/#\/schema\/person\/797f4ab557a7e548b4bb5762c64a5f57"},"headline":"Deaths in the New Mexico desert surge after Texas\u2019 border crackdown reaches El Paso","datePublished":"2025-06-17T00:20:03+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-17T00:20:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/deaths-in-the-new-mexico-desert-surge-after-texas-border-crackdown-reaches-el-paso\/"},"wordCount":4568,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/deaths-in-the-new-mexico-desert-surge-after-texas-border-crackdown-reaches-el-paso\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Body-Bag.jpg","keywords":["Partner Stories"],"articleSection":["Partner Stories"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/deaths-in-the-new-mexico-desert-surge-after-texas-border-crackdown-reaches-el-paso\/","url":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/deaths-in-the-new-mexico-desert-surge-after-texas-border-crackdown-reaches-el-paso\/","name":"Deaths in the New Mexico desert surge after Texas\u2019 border crackdown reaches El Paso - New Mexico In Focus","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/deaths-in-the-new-mexico-desert-surge-after-texas-border-crackdown-reaches-el-paso\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/deaths-in-the-new-mexico-desert-surge-after-texas-border-crackdown-reaches-el-paso\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Body-Bag.jpg","datePublished":"2025-06-17T00:20:03+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-17T00:20:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/#\/schema\/person\/797f4ab557a7e548b4bb5762c64a5f57"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/deaths-in-the-new-mexico-desert-surge-after-texas-border-crackdown-reaches-el-paso\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/deaths-in-the-new-mexico-desert-surge-after-texas-border-crackdown-reaches-el-paso\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/deaths-in-the-new-mexico-desert-surge-after-texas-border-crackdown-reaches-el-paso\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Body-Bag.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Body-Bag.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"caption":"Do\u00f1a Ana County Sheriff Deputy N. Al-Abayad, left, and Detective Alan Barbosa transport a body bag containing the bones of a migrant, first found by volunteers with Battalion Search and Rescue, on May 3, 2025. The discovery of migrant bodies in the desert has spiked since El Paso joined Texas\u2019 Operation Lone Star. (Photo by Justin Hamel \/ Texas Tribune)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/deaths-in-the-new-mexico-desert-surge-after-texas-border-crackdown-reaches-el-paso\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Deaths in the New Mexico desert surge after Texas\u2019 border crackdown reaches El Paso"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/","name":"New Mexico In Focus","description":"Involved, Informed, In-depth Journalism","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/#\/schema\/person\/797f4ab557a7e548b4bb5762c64a5f57","name":"Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f01b38a3c4cd0876e9182849ca6091d18e233409cbf3e59ba66506c9ec54c7f9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f01b38a3c4cd0876e9182849ca6091d18e233409cbf3e59ba66506c9ec54c7f9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f01b38a3c4cd0876e9182849ca6091d18e233409cbf3e59ba66506c9ec54c7f9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico"},"url":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/author\/patricklohmann\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47243"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47267,"href":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47243\/revisions\/47267"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}