A person who was found dead near the railroad tracks in San Antonio's Southwest Side on Monday is believed to be connected to the case of the six people found dead inside a Union Pacific train boxcar in Laredo on Sunday.
In a press conference, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said that the person is a male who carried some type of identification from Mexico, but he does not know the identity of the man.
Salazar said Union Pacific Railroad Police and agents from ICE's Homeland Security Investigations discovered the body in the 9600 block of Wolf Road.
He shared that the containers on Union Pacific trains contain sensors. An alert was received at "some point over the weekend," indicating a train car door was opened.
He said that a body could have fallen or been thrown out of the open car door.
When the report of the bodies found in Laredo came through, officials began to patrol areas in San Antonio and discovered the body of the man.
"I believe there was a phone call made to the SAPD from someone in another state ... from a relative that was believed to be in the load (in the boxcar in Laredo), and it was getting very, very hot ... and that they were having some physical trouble," said Salazar.
He added that "now it is believed ... that the person that shot that message out of town was among the six deceased" in Laredo.
On Sunday, the Laredo Police Department said the bodies were discovered at around 3 p.m. during a routine rail car inspection by train employees.
Laredo police and fire fighters responded to the scene. Laredo police officer Joe Baeza says all six individuals were discovered perished at the Union Pacific rail yard.
"None of them were transported, he said. "There were no live people who were discovered in that same car."
A press release from Webb County indicated that Medical Examiner Dr. Corinne Stern had provided an update on the victims, including five men and one woman.
According to the statement, "As of 10 a.m. today the female victim has been identified as a 29-year-old national of Mexico and one of the male victims as a 24-year-old from Honduras." The medical examiner reported the cause of death of the woman to be hyperthermia and believes the five men also died of hyperthermia, pending formal investigations.
Hyperthermia relates to many heat-related illnesses. It occurs when the body is absorbs or produces more heat than it can safely maintain.
City of Laredo Mayor Dr. Victor D. Treviño shared a statement on Monday about the incident and expressed condolences to the families of the victims.
No information has so far been released about the identities of the victims, but more information will be provided by the office of the medical examiner in Laredo.
Temperatures in Laredo reached the upper 90s on Sunday. The city is home to one of the nation's top trade hubs.
This is a developing story.
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