SAN ANTONIO — Thursday marks exactly two years since the deadliest human smuggling case in United States history. Fifty-three people were killed trying to cross into the U.S., their bodies found in the back of an overheated tractor-trailer on the south side of San Antonio.
Rafala Ortega lost both her brother, Jesus, and her 20-year-old son Pablo that day. She lives in Florida and found out about the tragedy from the news.
"Seeing this trailer, this accident, then in my mind I said, 'Oh, my family can be there,'" she told KENS 5 in an interview conducted in Spanish.
Ortega flew to San Antonio in hopes of finding them. She searched local hospitals and eventually ended up at the morgue where she was able to identify them through photos.
"Well, I still had hope about finding them alive," she said. "And when I looked at the photo, all hope was gone."
Her brother and son had dreams of coming to the United States for a better life. Ortega herself had immigrated in 2014, crossing the desert to arrive. She paid more for them to have a safer journey.
"The thing is that that's why I paid more, because $11,000 was to pass through the desert," Ortega said in Spanish. "But I didn't want them to go through what I suffered."
For Ortega, two years later, the pain is still fresh.
"For me, it hurts like it was the first day," she said. "That will never go away. But it gives me joy to come see it and come and fix that place so that it is not forgotten. I don't want it to be forgotten."
On Saturday, a rosary ceremony will begin at 5 p.m. to bless the new permanent memorial being built along Quintana Road.
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