Belongings found on migrants who were found dead in the open desert in Southern Arizona are kept at the Pima County Office of Medical Examiner so investigators can try to identify them.

 Josh Galemore, Arizona Daily Star

The remains of 43 migrants who died while crossing the border in Southern Arizona were found last month as 2021 develops into another deadly year for migrants.

The total for June was three times higher than the 14 sets of remains found in June 2020 and the highest monthly total since July 2010, according to records compiled by the Pima County Medical Examiner and Mike Kreyche of the border-aid group Humane Borders.

This year is on pace to be even deadlier than last year. The remains of 226 migrants were found in 2020, more than any year since the crisis of migrant deaths began two decades ago. So far this year, the remains of 127 migrants have been found in Southern Arizona, compared with 96 during the same period last year.

Don’t make trek, officials plead

Heat was the most common cause of death for the migrants whose remains were found in June. Authorities identified four of the migrants and were able to determine 28 were male and six were female. They were unable to determine the gender for nine others.

Migrants crossing the border in June dealt with a heat wave as they walked through mountains and desert areas in Southern Arizona that are larger than some states. While many remains found through the years belonged to migrants who died months or years earlier, 29 sets of remains found in June belonged to migrants who died less than a week earlier.

Officials from the Mexican and Guatemalan consulates joined with Border Patrol officials in Tucson in May to urge migrants not to cross the desert during the summer heat and to call 911 if they were in distress. Border Patrol officials said in June they were fielding more than 30 distress calls from migrants every day.

Nearly half found on wildlife refuge

Federal officials have not released statistics for encounters with migrants in June, but the Border Patrol reported about 19,900 encounters in May in the Tucson Sector. Most of those encounters involved adults from Mexico and Guatemala who were quickly expelled to Mexico under a pandemic-related health order known as Title 42.

In June, remains were found along the border from the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge southwest of Tucson to a remote area northeast of Douglas. Some of the remains were found close to the border, while others were found as far north as the Casa Grande area, according to GPS coordinates compiled by the medical examiner and Humane Borders.

Nearly half of the remains were found in cross-border corridors that run alongside the Baboquivari Mountains southwest of Tucson. Border Patrol officials have said this area has become one of the busiest for migrants in Southern Arizona.

The remains of more than 3,500 migrants have been found in Southern Arizona since 2000. An unknown number of other migrants, whose remains were never found, died while crossing the border.

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Contact Curt at 573-4224 or cprendergast@tucson.com