The body of a Texas National Guard soldier who went missing last week after trying to save drowning migrants was recovered Monday, Governor Greg Abbott (R.) announced.
"We are heartbroken to learn of the death of SPC Bishop E. Evans who was reported missing in Eagle Pass on Friday," Abbott said in a statement. "Our National Guard soldiers risk their lives every day to serve and protect others and we are eternally grateful for the way SPC Evans heroically served his state and country."
Evans on Friday went missing along the Rio Grande after he entered the river to save two illegal immigrants who "appeared to be drowning." While the migrants survived, Evans presumably drowned. The Texas Military Department told Fox News that the migrants "were involved in illicit transnational narcotics trafficking."
The White House has not yet commented on the Friday incident. In September 2021, when media outlets falsely reported that Border Patrol agents on horseback whipped Haitian migrants, the White House within a day issued a condemnation of the agents' conduct.
Evans was stationed at the border as part of Abbott's deployment of National Guard troops to address the surge of illegal migrant crossings under the Biden administration. In 2021, Customs and Border Protection saw a record 1.6 million migrant apprehensions, a number that's expected to rise to 2.3 million this year.