Entrant's body found near I-19 in Santa Cruz (Arizona Daily Star)

Entrant's body found near I-19 in Santa Cruz

Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.08.2008

Santa Cruz County sheriff's deputies discovered the body of an illegal immigrant Thursday west of Interstate 19 near Portrero Canyon.

Deputies were looking for some suspects who had fled from another incident and discovered a group of illegal immigrants under a bridge, said Lt. Raoul Rodriguez of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office. The group told them about a woman who had died nearby.

Deputies found Maria del Carmen Perez Cruz, 34, of Hidalgo, Mexico, about two miles west of Interstate 19 and about 12 miles north of the U.S.-Mexican border near Arizona 289, Rodriguez said. She was alone, having been left behind by other members of the group who went for help, he said.

It is the 11th body of an illegal immigrant found since Jan. 1 in Santa Cruz County, he said. There were 22 bodies found in 2007, he said.