Our History

 

 

Summer 2012 – Families report loved ones missing in Brooks County to Los Angeles del Desierto who contacts Houston United and the Prevention of Migrant Death Working Group.

November 2012 – In collaboration with the above groups, Eddie Canales begins organizing/advocating to ensure that DNA testing is conducted on all unidentified human remains in compliance with Texas State Law.

May 2013 – A community forum is held on migrant deaths in Brooks County.

June 2013 and 2014 – Volunteer anthropology teams exhume unidentified human remains from the Sacred Heart Burial Park in Brooks County to begin the long process of identification.

July 2013 – The Water Station Project begins in Brooks County as the first water stations are placed.

August 2013 – The Brooks County Commissioners Court approves sending all human remains found in Brooks County to Webb County Office of the Medical Examiner after the STHRC presents in session.

November 2013 – The STHRC opens its doors in Falfurrias, TX (Brooks County).

July 2014 – The STHRC begins taking calls regarding missing border crossers and plots maps for the Brooks County Sheriffs Office and Border Patrol to assist with search and rescue/recovery.

August 2014 – Border Project Meeting led by Equipo Argentino de Antropologia Forense (EAAF) in Mexico City with goal to establish forensic and repatriation protocols for the unidentified deceased border crossers throughout Central America, Mexico, and the US border states.

December 2014 – The executive director of Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) and her team visit the STHRC.

December 2014 – the STHRC acquires Hailey Duecker, MA, a forensic anthropologist from Texas State University who collects and processes data for unidentified and missing migrant remains from Brooks County. The data is entered into the NamUs data bank.