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The body of the Texas National Guard member who went missing while attempting to rescue migrants from drowning while crossing into the U.S. from Mexico was found Monday, Fox News has learned.
Texas Army National Guard Specialist Bishop E. Evans, 22, went missing near Eagle Pass Friday while attempting to rescue two migrants who “appeared to be drowning while crossing the river from Mexico into the U.S.,” according to the Texas Military Department.
Multiple sources tell Fox News that Evans body was found and recovered in Eagle Pass, Texas Monday morning.
Rep. Tony Gonzales’ office separately told Fox News Digital that the Republican congressman received information from Border Patrol that Evans’ body was found Monday morning.
“This morning SPC Evans’ body was found and identified by local authorities,” Gonzales said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. “This young soldier made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of protecting and serving our country. He will never be forgotten.”
Dive teams were forced to halt their operations Saturday evening as the river’s current continued at an increased pace, making dive operations very challenging. Search and rescue operations began again early Sunday morning, with the addition of three airboats from the Texas Department of Public Safety.
In a previous statement to Fox News, the Texas Military Department said Texas Rangers have determined from initial reports that the two migrants “were involved in illicit transnational narcotics trafficking.”
Texas Rangers is the lead agency for the investigation, while the Texas Military Department, Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Parks and Wildlife, and the Border Patrol had been organizing the search and rescue teams in their effort to locate Evans.
Evans was a field artilleryman from Arlington, Texas, assigned to A Battery, 4-133 Field Artillery Regiment in New Braunfels, Texas. He joined the Texas Army National Guard in May 2019.
He returned in the fall of 2020 from mobilization to Operation Spartan Shield in Kuwait.
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During this mobilization, his “dedication, talents, and tactical prowess” led his leadership to regularly assign him to operations in Iraq in support of Special Operations Forces for short periods of time, while then rotating back into Kuwait, according to the Texas Military Department.
Fox News’ Adam Sabes contributed to this report.
