- US Border Patrol Agent James Epling was going after a group of illegal immigrants when he drowned in 2003.
Olympic swimmer Shaine Casas was three years old in 2003 when his father drowned trying to apprehend and save a group of illegal border crossers in the Colorado River,
US Border Patrol Agent James Epling died just west of Yuma, Arizona.
Now, Casas swims at the highest level, representing Team USA in the Paris Olympic Games.
The following excerpt is from The Border Report.
“As I understand it, he heard people screaming and maybe people struggling in the water,” said Abel Holguín, a retired U.S. Customs and Border Protection investigator. “He entered the water, and somehow ended up rescuing a lady, perhaps more than one and then continued efforts to apprehend the suspect.”
An infrared camera and operator across the river monitored Epling’s movements as he followed the group into the river, never to be seen again.
“He disappeared, everybody starts looking for him, everybody is calling out his name and eventually it became a rescue,” Holguín said.
Law enforcement from throughout the region was mobilized as a massive search got underway.
One of the agents called in to help search for Epling was Tyler Emblem who was part of a newly formed swift-water rescue team.
“It weighed pretty heavy on us, it still does,” said Emblem, who continues to work for the Border Patrol’s Yuma Sector.
“I remember looking for signs of him holding on to the reeds, calling his name out, but after repeated passes by our team floating down by the reeds, we realized it was probably less likely we were going to find him.”Shaine Casas’ mom speaks on his journey ahead of Olympic race.
…Although Casas was only about to turn 4 years old at the time of Epling’s death, his overwhelming success as a swimmer and making the U.S. Olympic team has provided a sense of closure for fellow Border Patrol agents, especially Holguín and Emblem.
“I’m sure he’d be really proud of him,” Holguín said.
Read more at BorderReport.com.
NOW AVAILABLE: FOLLOW THE $CIENCE
Order Sharyl Attkisson’s New Bestseller!
