The known death toll among migrants crossing the harsh terrain along ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s border with Mexico reached 227 last year, the highest yearly total on record, according to recently released statistics.
The total for 2020 was a 58% increase over the 144 sets of human remains recovered in 2019, according to records from the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner and the humanitarian aid group Humane Borders.
Since the crisis of migrants dying in large numbers at the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥-Mexico border began two decades ago, the medical examiner has documented the deaths of nearly 3,400 migrants. However, those records only account for remains that were found. The actual total of migrant deaths is unknown.
The rise in migrant deaths last year was a reversal of a fairly steady decrease in recent years, said Dr. Greg Hess, chief medical examiner for Pima County.
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The new international border wall near Yuma and San Luis, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, on October 6, 2020. Video by Kelly Presnell / ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥
Before 2020, the highest number of remains found in a single year came in 2010, when 224 sets of remains were found, according to an online database maintained by Humane Borders. The database includes remains from Pima, Santa Cruz, and ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ counties, which are handled by the Pima County medical examiner, as well as a small number of remains found in Maricopa County.
The exceedingly hot and dry weather last summer likely contributed to more migrants dying as they crossed the desert, Hess said.
None of the deaths were linked to coronavirus infections, Hess said. Where cause of death could be determined, the most common cause was exposure to the elements, particularly hyperthermia, medical examiner records show.
Medical examiner records for 2020 show nearly half of the human remains were found less than three months after the person died. Others belonged to people who may have died years ago.
So far, about 70 sets of remains have been identified. Most belonged to migrants from Mexico, along with 11 from Guatemala, two from Honduras and two from Colombia, according to medical examiner records.
In one incident from August, which the National Weather Service in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ said was the hottest month on record, a 35-year-old woman from Mexico crossed the border with a group near the Baboquivari Mountains southwest of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥. She couldn’t keep up with the group and someone in the group called her family in Mexico to tell them she had fallen behind. Her family contacted humanitarian aid workers in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, who then called the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, according to a deputy’s incident report.
She couldn’t be found at the time, but several weeks later, agents with the Border Patrol’s search and rescue team found her body as they looked for a group of migrants near the Border Patrol checkpoint on ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ 86. A canine with the search and rescue team picked up her scent and guided the agents to her body. In the phone that a sheriff’s deputy found a few feet from her body, the deputy saw she had several unread text messages, voice calls, and notifications on WhatsApp of people trying to reach her.
She was one of 24 migrants who died in the corridor that runs north from Sasabe, along the Baboquivari Mountains, and continues along the western flank of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ into Maricopa County.
Most of the human remains were found in the desert and mountains west and southwest of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, including 96 sets of remains on the Tohono O’odham Nation. Another 18 sets of remains were found in the corridors that run north from Nogales and Patagonia to ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥. ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ County saw 19 sets of remains found. The locations for three sets of remains were not listed. Two were found on the Barry M. Goldwater Bombing Range.
“What concerns me when there is that remarkable spike in bodies is people are still coming over, but they’re not traveling in easily accessible areas,†said Dan Abbott, a volunteer with Humane Borders who helps supply water stations for migrants near Ajo.
Abbott has not seen a large increase in the use of the water stations, “which suggests to me that people are having to go even further west, which is really inhospitable country,†he said.
Medical examiner records show 65 sets of remains were found in the area near Ajo and the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge to the west.
The total for 2020 could change slightly as the Medical Examiner’s Office tries to identify human remains, which at times can lead to the realization that what appeared to be two different sets of remains actually belong to one person, Hess said.
The medical examiner uses a number of factors to determine whether remains belong to migrants, Hess said, such as finding carpeted shoes, camouflage clothing, foreign currency and other items common to migrants in the desert. Other factors include the remains not being buried and not being connected to any missing-persons reports.
Photos of the U.S. – Mexico border fence
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.

A dog stands on a road commonly used by Border Patrol near Slaughter Ranch Museum Thursday, Sept. 27, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.

A border monument on the Mexico side of the border seen east of Douglas Thursday, Sept. 27, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.

The San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge sits on the U.S. side of the border with Mexico east of Douglas Thursday, Sept. 27, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.

A bull and cow graze near the site of new wall construction east of Douglas Thursday, Sept. 27, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.

The border seen stretching from hills east of Douglas into the Guadalupe Mountains Thursday, Sept. 27, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.

Flowers grow around border fencing near the San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge Thursday, Sept. 27, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.

Construction equipment set up at the site of new border wall construction on the US/Mexico border east of Douglas Thursday, Sept. 27, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.

A Border Patrol tower on the hills east of Douglas Thursday, Sept. 27, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.

Memorials place on graves at Julia Page Memorial Park in Douglas which sits along the U.S./Mexico border Thursday, Sept. 27, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.

A car drives through Douglas on a road parallel to the U.S./Mexico border wall Thursday, Sept. 27, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.

The Slaughter Ranch homestead Thursday, Sept. 27, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.

A lake on the Slaughter Ranch Thursday, Sept. 27, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.

A toy rocking horse placed on the side of East Geronimo Trail with a sign advertising five minute pony rides for 25 cents Thursday, Sept. 27, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.

Highway 2 in Mexico winds its way to Agua Prieta Thursday, Sept. 27, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.

The vehicle in a ditch was driven through the international border fence in Agua Prieta, Mex., into Douglas, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ in July 1987.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.

Mexican citizens run back into Agua Prieta, Mexico through a hole in the border fence at Douglas, Ariz., after the U.S. Border Patrol scared them back across the border in 1997.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.

The Raul Hector Castro Port of Entry on May 1, 2018, in Douglas, Ariz.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.

The Douglas, Ariz., border crossing in 1968.
U.S. – Mexico border near Lochiel, Ariz.

U.S./Mexico border fencing next to a old church building in Lochiel Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Lochiel, Ariz.

Old border posts line the U.S./Mexico line near Lochiel Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Lochiel, Ariz.

A Soal Off Roading sticker placed on a U.S./Mexico border post near Lochiel Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Lochiel, Ariz.

Mountains in Santa Cruz County seen from Duquesne Road between Nogales and Lochiel seen Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Lochiel, Ariz.

A monument in Lochiel marking where Fray Marcos De Niza entered ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019.Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Lochiel, Ariz.

Brothers Ramon and Ed De La Ossa mend fencing on their family's ranch in Lochiel after moving cattle Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019. The ranch which used to span both sides of the U.S./Mexico border has been in the family for three generations.
U.S. – Mexico border near Lochiel, Ariz.

Ed De La Ossa mends fencing on his family's ranch in Lochiel Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019. The ranch which used to span both sides of the U.S./Mexico border has been in the family for three generations.
U.S. – Mexico border near Lochiel, Ariz.

Ed De La Ossa moves cattle on his family's ranch in Lochiel Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Lochiel, Ariz.

U.S. Customs inspector Helen Mills, right, greets Mexican counterpart Raymundo Aguirre Castillo at the U.S. - Mexican border station at Lochiel, Ariz., in 1979.
U.S. – Mexico border near Lochiel, Ariz.

The US Customs building, right, at Lochiel, Ariz., is just a short distance away from the international border in May 1972. For ten years, Mills has been managing the port of entry, which is mostly made up of five houses, a school and an vacant church, inspecting vehicles as they head into the US. During the week, from Monday through Saturday, Mills opens the border gate from 8 am to 10 am and from 4 pm to 6 pm. On Sunday the gate is open from 8 am to 6 pm. In that time barely a dozen vehicles make their way across the border but it is a major convenience to the local residents.Â
U.S. – Mexico border near Nogales, Ariz.

Pedestrians walk to the Nogales port of entry Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Nogales, Ariz.

A pedestrian walks across North Grand Avenue in Nogales near the U.S./Mexico port of entries Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Nogales, Ariz.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer R. Hernandez uses a density-measuring device on the rear quarter-panel of a Mexico-bound passenger vehicle at the DeConcini Port of Entry on Nov. 2, 2016, in Nogales, Ariz.
U.S. – Mexico border near Nogales, Ariz.

A Customs and Border Protection officer makes a visual check of a man's identification at the DeConcini Port of Entry on Feb. 15, 2017, in Nogales, Ariz. Busts of fraudulent border-crossing documents and the use of someone else's documents plummeted in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ and the rest of the border in the past decade.
U.S. – Mexico border near Nogales, Ariz.

Northbound commercial truck traffic lined up for inspection at the Mariposa Port of Entry on March 28, 2017, in Nogales, Ariz.
U.S. – Mexico border near Nogales, Ariz.

In the commercial lanes a semi truck stops between the lanes looking for the first available opening at the Mariposa Port of Entry in 2015.
U.S. – Mexico border near Nogales, Ariz.

Javier Castillo inspects a north-bound Mexican tractor-trailer at the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Department of Transportation's inspection facility at the Mariposa Port of Entry on Sept. 19, 2017, in Nogales, Ariz. ADOT's International Border Inspection Qualification program, led by ADOT's Border Liaison Unit, teaches commercial truck drivers what to expect during safety inspections when they enter ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ ports of entry.
U.S. – Mexico border near Nogales, Ariz.

A Border Patrol truck parked near the commercial port of entry in Nogales.
U.S. – Mexico border near Nogales, Ariz.

An illegal alien scales the U.S.-Mexico fence back toward Sonora after a Nogales Police Department officer, right, spotted him west of the Mariposa Port of Entry, Nov. 15, 2018, in Nogales, Ariz.
U.S. – Mexico border near Nogales, Ariz.

Kory's, a store catering to wedding, quincea–era and formal gowns, located at 15 N Morley Ave, Nogales, Ariz., sits katty corner to the Morley Gate Border Station on January 30, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Nogales, Ariz.

Sun shines through the U.S.-Mexico bollard fence west of the Mariposa Port of Entry, Nov. 15, 2018, in Nogales, Ariz.
U.S. – Mexico border near Nogales, Ariz.

Children from Nogales, Sonora, climb through a hole in the international border fence to trick-or-treat in Nogales, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, on Halloween in 1987.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.

Border monument #166 is seen on the right as construction continues on the new 30-foot tall bollard fence that replaces old U.S./Mexico border fence two miles east of the Lukeville, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ port of entry on October 8, 2019. Photo taken from Sonoyta, Sonora, Mexico.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.

Construction continues on the new 30-foot tall bollard fence along the U.S./Mexico border two miles east of the Lukeville, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ port of entry on October 8, 2019. Photo taken from Sonoyta, Sonora, Mexico.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.

A Mexican worker rides his horse along a road south of the U.S./Mexican border wall on his way back into Sonoyta Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.

New paneling of border wall seen about three miles east of the Lukeville/Sonoyta port of entry seen from the Mexico side of the border line Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.

Old mesh paneling is removed in preparation for new wall to be built about three miles east of the Lukeville/Sonoyta port of entry seen from the Mexico side of the border line Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.

A construction worker prepares cables to lift a piece of the 30-foot tall bollard fence along the U.S./Mexico border fence two miles east of the Lukeville, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ port of entry on October 8, 2019. Photo taken from Sonoyta, Sonora, Mexico.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.

Border Patrol Officers to the side of a worksite about three miles east of the Lukeville/Sonoyta port of entry where new border wall is being installed seen from the Mexico side of the border line Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.

Old wall east of the Lukeville/Sonoyta port of entry seen from the Mexico side of the border line Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.

Raised wall east of the Lukeville/Sonoyta port of entry seen from the Mexico side of the border line Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.

A work site east of the Lukeville/Sonoyta port of entry seen from the Mexico side of the border line Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.

Normandy fencing placed against a section of border fence west of Lukeville Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.

A semi passes by Quitobaquito Springs as it drives along Highway 2 in Mexico Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.

An area referred to as "flood gate" along the U.S./Mexico border near Sasabe, Ariz. is on the list of the Department of Homeland Security’s priorities for building a border wall, but no funding has been allocated yet. September 16, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.

Vehicle barriers mark the U.S./Mexico border within the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge in Sasabe, Ariz. on September 16, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.

A portion of the U.S./Mexico bollard border fence ends on the right and vehicle barriers begin within the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge in Sasabe, Ariz. on September 16, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection Integrated Fixed Tower, left, near Sasabe, Ariz. on September 16, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.

The new 30-foot tall bollard fence that replaced old U.S./Mexico border fence can be seen on the left. It's located about miles east of the Lukeville, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ port of entry on October 8, 2019. Photo taken from Sonoyta, Sonora, Mexico.
U.S. – Mexico border near San Luis, Ariz.

A US Border Patrol vehicle seen next to a section of new 30 foot high wall along the US/Mexico border near the commercial port of entry in San Luis Thursday, Aug. 8, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near San Luis, Ariz.

Old fencing is taken down along the United States/Mexico border seen from the northern end of San Luis, Mexico, Aug. 7, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near San Luis, Ariz.

A security guard stand in a construction site where a new fence will be placed on the United States/Mexico border seen from the northern end of San Luis, Mexico, Aug. 7, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near San Luis, Ariz.

Old fencing against new fencing along the United States/Mexico border seen from the northern end of San Luis, Mexico on Aug. 7, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near San Luis, Ariz.

Crews prepare ground for a new fence to be placed on the United States/Mexico border seen from the northern end of San Luis, Mexico on Aug. 7, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near San Luis, Ariz.

Vehicles in line to enter the United States from San Luis, Mexico on Aug. 7, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near San Luis, Ariz.

New fencing along the United States/Mexico border seen from the northern end of San Luis, Mexico on Aug. 7, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near San Luis, Ariz.

A new section of fencing on the U.S. - Mexico border in California, just west of Yuma, Ariz., in 1993.
U.S. – Mexico border near San Luis, Ariz.

Sand drifts through the "floating fence" that marks the border running through the dunes, Wednesday, July 25, 2018, west of San Luis, Ariz.
U.S. – Mexico border near San Luis, Ariz.

A sign warns of the dangers of trying to swim the All-American Canal just north of the Mexican border, Wednesday, July 25, 2018, west of San Luis, Ariz.
U.S. – Mexico border near San Luis, Ariz.

A long string of lights illuminate the no-man's land between the triple fencing of the Mexican border, Wednesday, July 25, 2018, San Luis, Ariz.
U.S. – Mexico border near San Luis, Ariz.

The border fence comes to an abrupt end at the currently dry Colorado River, Thursday, July 26, 2018, west of San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora.
Contact reporter Curt Prendergast at 573-4224 or cprendergast@tucson.com or on Twitter @CurtÃÛèÖÖ±²¥Star