SAN ANTONIO — Fifty-three people died of heat-related illness after they were found inside an abandoned semitruck in far southwest San Antonio. Now, the Bexar County Medical Examiner's office says they have conclusively identified all but one of those victims.
Forty-eight victims were initially found dead of inside the trailer last week, according to local authorities. Five more later died at San Antonio-area hospitals.
Forty of the victims are male and 13 are female. The office had been in contact with consulates of Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. As of July 11, the office has released every name.
Meanwhile, a memorial on Quintana Road continues to grow to honor the lives lost. A community advocate for immigrants, SandraGrace Martinez has been at the memorial nearly every day for the past week.
Martinez said she met the mother of 27-year old Adela Betulia Ramirez Quezada last week. Ramirez Quezada was one of the victims identified by the Medical Examiner.
Martinez said Ramirez Quezada’s mother lives in Los Angeles with two daughters. She knew Adela wanted to come to the country to be closer to family, but did not know she was traveling through a trailer.
“She told me, in Spanish, ‘I would have never allowed her to come in the trailer,’” Martinez said.
Jair Valencia Olivares, 20, and Yovani Valencia Olivares, 16, were two others who were identified by the medical examiner. Martinez learned they were brothers from Mexico, and plans to visit the memorial every day until all names are released and she is able to collect stories for each of the victims.
“I don’t want them to just be numbers and victims, and with the political climate the way it is, I don’t want them to get lost in that much,” Martinez said. “It’s nice to know why they came, not just, ‘Oh, they were breaking the law.”
Here is the full list of names the Medical Examiner has confirmed to the public:
Migrants from Mexico
Alvaro Ojeda Salazar, 23
Efrain Ferrel Garcia, 22
Fernando Gallegas Garcia, 38
Francisco Javier Delgado Rodriguez, 32
Gustavo Daniel Santillan Santillan, 27
Jair Valencia Olivares, 20
Javier Florez Lopez, 35
Jesus Alvarez Ortega, 43
Jose Lopez Muniz, 35
Jozue Diaz Gallardo, 34
Juan Valeriano Domitilo, 55
J. Marcial Trejo Hernandez, 38
Maria Guadalupe Monterro Serrato, 28
Mariano Santiago Hipolito, 32
Mayra Beltran Frausto, 31
Misael Olivares Monterde, 16
Omar Rico Almanza, 29
Pablo Ortega Alvarez, 20
Pedro Telles Gonzalez, 16
Yovani Valencia Olivares, 16
Juan Trejo Tellez, 31
Migrants from Honduras
Adela Betulia Ramirez Guezada, 27
Alejandro Andino Caballero, 23
Belkis Anariba Caceres, 33
Fernando Redondo Caballero, 18
Margie Paz Grajeda, 25
Yazmin Nayrith Bueso Nunez, 37
Migrants from Guatemala
Aracely Marroquin Coronado, 21
Blanca Ramirez Crisostomo, 23
Celestina Ambrocio Orozco, 22
Deisy Lopez Ramirez, 24
Denis Nis Barrios, 25
Doniz Galvez Deleon, 19
Enrique Chavez, 37
Fidelino Ramirez Sanchez, 28
Francisoc Tepaz Simaj, 22
Juan Wilmer Tulul Tepaz, 14
Juan Vasquez Morales, 24
Karla Lopez Espana, 22
Maria Ramirez Alvarado, 24
Nicolas Meletz Guarcax, 31
Pascual Melvin Guachiac Sipac, 13
Sebastian Och Mejia, 31
William Ramirez Alvarado, 19
Yeisan Efrain Jimenez, 20
Jonny Tziguin Tzoc, 17
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Several others continue to recover in local hospitals. Authorities say the migrants had no access to water or functioning air conditioning. It’s unknown at this time how long the men, women and children were stuck inside the tractor-trailer.
Four men have been charged in connection with the event. The driver appeared in federal court last week and faces life in prison or the death penalty.
Two others connected to the case will have their preliminary hearings Friday at the Federal Court House.