Texas State University’s nonprofit organization is working to identify unknown remains along the Texas-Mexico border

MAVERICK COUNTY, Texas – Traveling across the Texas-Mexico border can be deadly.

Over the past decade, hundreds of people have been found dead in Maverick County. Many of them would remain unknown without the help of a Texas State University nonprofit.

Operation Identification identifies and repatriates human remains found at the southern border. The nonprofit hopes to provide free closure to families who are unsure if their loved one is missing or deceased.

The nonprofit has identified nearly 200 people along with Texas State University postdoctoral researcher Victoria Swenson, who in part leads the effort when the group travels to border towns. The head of the program is Dr. Kate Spradley.

“We typically look at skeletal remains to develop a biological profile,” Swenson said.

KSAT met Swenson and her team in Maverick County, a county where dozens of migrants are attempting to cross the border. Many of the border deaths that Operation Identification works on are due to heat-related illnesses and drownings in several border towns.

In Maverick County, the nonprofit works with America Garcia Volunteers: Border Vigil – Eagle Pass.

“Climate change, crime and drug violence are forcing people to survive and their options are becoming increasingly limited,” Garcia said.

Border Vigil’s mission is to raise awareness of the number of deaths on the Rio Grande and inform the public about what is happening in border towns.

“They will do anything to provide hope,” Garcia said. “Unfortunately, this means that the crossing occurs at the hottest times of the day, the hottest time of the year, and in dangerous places such as along the Rio Grande. We actually built a cross monument here in Eagle Pass in Shelby Park.”

Texas state anthropologists said newly found remains of unknown people could date back several years. To speed up the identification process, Operation Identification added a new approach in 2024.

“We’ve switched gears, so to speak, to include fingerprints and DNA samples from recently deceased people,” Swenson said. “Fingerprints are the quickest and easiest way to identify people. When we get a fingerprint ID, we get a report of who they are, where they come from and what their date of birth is.”

Although fingerprint measurement is practical, the results do not always allow clear identification of a person.

There are also times when the body’s natural decomposition prevents the ability to fingerprint. In these cases, Operation Identification can return the remains to Texas State University at San Marcos for more detailed identification.

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