A skull of an unidentified migrant border crosser, bleached by the sun, is seen on a table in the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner on Tuesday 21, 2013 in Tucson, Ariz. Migrants crossing the U.S. - Mexico border leave everyday items in the Sonora Desert. Some belongings are left behind and some are found with migrant bodies, which are transported to the Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office in Tucson, Ariz., and are clues to identifying remains.
Refried beans, along with other packaged foods are found in the backpack of deceased Mario Velazquez, 32, a migrant border crosser at the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner on May 22, 2013, in Tucson, Ariz.
Items found with the deceased body of Mario Velazquez, 32, a migrant border crosser, lay on a white sheet at the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner on May 22, 2013, in Tucson, Ariz.
A wallet and cards of an unidentified migrant border crosser are seen in a plastic sleeve displayed on a white sheet at the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner on May 22, 2013, in Tucson, Ariz. Migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border leave everyday items in the Sonora Desert. Some belongings are left behind and some are found with migrant bodies, which are transported to the Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office in Tucson, Ariz., and are clues to identifying remains.
“It has gotten so dangerous that you have people telling family members, ‘if I don’t make it, this is what I am wearing,’” Robin Reineke, coordinator of Pima County’s Missing Migrant Project said.
Intake at Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner in Tucson, Ariz.
The remains receive a full examination, including dental X-rays and DNA samples. But many fit the same profile — males, 20 to 55 years old — further complicating the identification process.
The objects left behind are thoroughly inspected, cataloged and carefully packed in plastic. They are kept in small lockers in the medical examiner’s office, near the room where the overflow of bodies are stored in the summertime.
The remains receive a full examination, including dental X-rays and DNA samples. But many fit the same profile — males, 20 to 55 years old — further complicating the identification process.
The objects left behind are thoroughly inspected, cataloged and carefully packed in plastic. They are kept in small lockers in the medical examiner’s office, near the room where the overflow of bodies are stored in the summertime.
Dave Thompson, the morgue supervisor of Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner in Tucson, Ariz., works to store plastic sleeves containing personal items of unidentified migrant border crossers in lockers on May 22, 2013.
Dr. Gregory Hess, chief medical examiner of Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner in Tucson, Ariz. holds skeletal remains of an unidentified border crosser on Tuesday, May 21, 2013.
Items found with the deceased body of Mario Velazquez, 32, a migrant border crosser, lay on a white sheet at the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner on Tuesday, May 22, 2013, in Tucson, Ariz.
Dr. Gregory Hess, chief medical examiner of Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner in Tucson, Ariz. holds skeletal remains of an unidentified border crosser on Tuesday, May 21, 2013.
Belongings of an unidentified migrant border crosser are seen in a plastic sleeve displayed on a white sheet at the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner on May 22, 2013, in Tucson, Ariz.
All remains, including the objects, are held for six to eight months and then cremated. The sheer volume of cases prevents the medical examiner from holding on any longer. Each new item is carefully studied by Reineke and others from the medical examiner’s office as they look for any clue to track down the families.