Migrant lost 6 days in Arizona desert saved after companion dies, officials say

A man lost for six days in the Arizona desert called 911 for help after his companion died, federal authorities reported.

Border Patrol agents found the man, who had illegally crossed the border from Mexico, south of Three Points near Tucson on the evening of July 9, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a July 11 news release.

The man had told dispatchers he and a companion had been walking in the desert for six days with little to no food or water, agents said.

Agents found the second person had died, and sheriff’s deputies retrieved the body, the agency said. An ambulance took the migrant to a hospital.

The man, who had previously been deported, will be processed “under a reinstatement of a prior deportation order,” agents said.

“Our desert is relentless this time of year,” Tucson Sector Chief Patrol Agent Sean L. McGoffin warned in a July 1 news release. “The heat does not discriminate. It can take the life of anyone — citizen or alien, adult or child — who is not fully prepared for the extreme conditions.”

Agents conducted more than 150 rescues last summer, McGoffin said.

Tucson is about a 115-mile drive southeast from Phoenix.

This story was originally published July 16, 2025 at 1:44 PM with the headline "Migrant lost 6 days in Arizona desert saved after companion dies, officials say."