Two bodies were found in a channel near the San Ysidro Port of Entry Thursday, marking the third time this month San Diego rescue crews have been called to retrieve bodies from the area.
A caller reported seeing what they believed to be a body near Dairy Mart Road and Clearwater Way Wednesday night but due to conditions, San Diego Fire-Recue crews were unable to enter the river to retrieve the bodies, SDFD Battalion Chief Oscar Rodriguez said. The next morning, crews were sent back in and discovered two bodies.
San Diego Fire-Rescue crews retrieved both bodies from the river.
"The San Diego Medical Examiner’s office was contacted and upon closer examination of one of the males, it was discovered he had trauma to his upper body that indicated he was the victim of a homicide," the San Diego Police Department wrote in a press release. "The second male had no obvious signs of injury that indicated he was the victim of a crime."
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The exact cause of death will be determined by the Medical Examiner's office, and San Diego police are investigating.
"It is undetermined if the deaths of the two males are related in any way or if their bodies ended up at the same location due to the recent heavy rains and strong currents in the river that led to their discovery in a location where a large amount of debris had accumulated within the river," SDPD Lt. Steve Shebloski said.
On Feb. 13, another body was found in the same area by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers and a week earlier a man died while attempting to cross into the U.S., according to officials. The former has not yet been identified and the latter was identified as a 61-year-old man from West Africa who was part of a group of migrants attempting to cross an engorged Tijuana River.
Those bodies were found between storms and Rodriguez said the river was about six feet higher than it was on Thursday.
On Feb. 12, a man's body was found in a van that went up in flames at the nearby athletic facility in the 2600 block of Sunset Avenue. The man has not yet been identified and the cause of death remains under investigation.
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