Border Patrol agents have probably heard just about every excuse as to why people are found in the Arizona desert on foot, without any water.
Cochise County Search and Rescue rescued two “hikers” in Cochise Stronghold, only to learn later that they were illegal immigrants on the run from the Border Patrol.
At around 2:30 pm, on June 6th, the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office sent Search and Rescue out on a call about two hikers who were lost and dehydrated in west Cochise Stronghold, according to Cochise County Sheriff’s Information Officer, Carol Capas.
An adult man and a juvenile female had called 9-1-1, saying that they had been in the area without water for a day and that the man was diabetic.
Both Search and Rescue and the Geronimo helicopter crew responded, with the Geronimo crew spotting the two stranded people and transporting them to the command post.
Medics and Healthcare Innovations checked the man and the girl, who were transported to Benson Hospital for further treatment.
Upon further investigation, the Sheriff’s Office discovered that the two people were not hikers, but rather the driver and passenger of a car that had lead Border Patrol agents on a high-speed chase from Lordsburg, New Mexico, in the early morning hours earlier that day.
The adult man and the female were turned over to Border Patrol at the Benson Hospital.
