Border Patrol agent missing near Yuma
Susan Carroll
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 18, 2003 12:00 AM
YUMA - A U.S. Border Patrol agent was missing late Wednesday more than 24 hours after vanishing while in pursuit of a group of undocumented immigrants along the Colorado River.
Rescue workers combed a two-mile stretch of the river and waded through thick brush searching for Agent James Epling, 24, who disappeared at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in a remote area south of Yuma.
By late Wednesday night, agents had found no sign of Epling, a father of three whose wife is eight months pregnant.
Epling was credited with pulling a Chinese woman from the swift-moving water before running off in pursuit of other members of her group along a trail that borders the river, said Joe Brigman, a spokesman for the Yuma Sector Border Patrol.
"He went right down into the river and got her out and transferred her to the other (agents), and then he took off after the others," he said. "And that was the last time he was seen."
On Tuesday night, agents caught four members of the group, which they thought included up to eight undocumented immigrants. Of the four immigrants in federal custody, one was a Mexican national and the others were Chinese, said Chief Patrol Agent Michael C. Nicley.
At the peak of the search, more than 75 rescue workers from the Border Patrol and local agencies combed the river, which separates Arizona and California.
Using hovercraft and pontoon boats, teams of scuba divers searched the murky river until nightfall, when visibility grew too poor, officials said. Through the night, boats dragged the bottom of the river, which was wider than 100 yards in some stretches.
"We're still holding out hope that we'll find him alive," Brigman said, standing at a makeshift search command center more than 24 hours after Epling disappeared.
Susan Carroll
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 18, 2003 12:00 AM
YUMA - A U.S. Border Patrol agent was missing late Wednesday more than 24 hours after vanishing while in pursuit of a group of undocumented immigrants along the Colorado River.
Rescue workers combed a two-mile stretch of the river and waded through thick brush searching for Agent James Epling, 24, who disappeared at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in a remote area south of Yuma.
By late Wednesday night, agents had found no sign of Epling, a father of three whose wife is eight months pregnant.
Epling was credited with pulling a Chinese woman from the swift-moving water before running off in pursuit of other members of her group along a trail that borders the river, said Joe Brigman, a spokesman for the Yuma Sector Border Patrol.
"He went right down into the river and got her out and transferred her to the other (agents), and then he took off after the others," he said. "And that was the last time he was seen."
On Tuesday night, agents caught four members of the group, which they thought included up to eight undocumented immigrants. Of the four immigrants in federal custody, one was a Mexican national and the others were Chinese, said Chief Patrol Agent Michael C. Nicley.
At the peak of the search, more than 75 rescue workers from the Border Patrol and local agencies combed the river, which separates Arizona and California.
Using hovercraft and pontoon boats, teams of scuba divers searched the murky river until nightfall, when visibility grew too poor, officials said. Through the night, boats dragged the bottom of the river, which was wider than 100 yards in some stretches.
"We're still holding out hope that we'll find him alive," Brigman said, standing at a makeshift search command center more than 24 hours after Epling disappeared.
