33-year-old migrant woman found dead near U.S.-Canada border

A 33-year-old woman from Mexico was found dead by New York police after crossing the United States border on foot from Canada last week. 

Following a two-day search by first responders in Clinton County, about 65 kilometres south of Montreal, the body of Ana Karen Vasquez-Flores was found in the Chazy River in the village of Champlain, on Dec. 14 at around 11 a.m., according to Major Nicholas Leon of the Clinton County Sheriff. 

Vasquez-Flores was supposed to meet with someone in the United States after crossing on foot, Leon said.

That person was interviewed by U.S. Border Patrol agents shortly after Vasquez-Flores left Canada and asked officials whether they'd found Vasquez-Flores, launching the search — which also involved N.Y. state forest rangers and the N.Y. state fire department. 

"She went exactly where she was supposed to be going, from what we understand," Leon said. "The problem is our rivers, they rise and fall. They rise with the rain, they rise with the snow melt. It's just a dangerous area." 

U.S. Border Patrol agents for the Swanton Sector — a stretch of the border from the New Hampshire-Maine state line to the western edge of St. Lawrence County in New York state — have reported staggering increases in the numbers of people crossing on foot from Canada into the U.S. since 2022.

In a recent Facebook post, they wrote that agents in the sector "have seen an astonishing 550 per cent increase compared to last year by recording 6,925 apprehensions from 79 different countries" between Oct. 1, 2022 and Sept. 30, 2023.

Harsher restrictions at the southern U.S. border have prompted thousands of Mexicans to fly to Canada, which does not require a tourist visa to travel from Mexico, and then cross into the U.S. on foot. Many asylum seekers have also crossed after struggling to survive in Canada due to work permit delays of up to a year and the rising cost of living. 

That was the case for 44-year-old Fritznel Richard and 45-year-old Jose Leos Cervantes, according to their families, both of whom died near the U.S.-Canada border with Quebec in the past year. It was also the case for a Romanian family of four, who died alongside an Indian family of three and a local Akwesasne man who was helping them cross into the U.S. via the St. Lawrence River in late March. 

In a statement sent to CBC News Monday evening by Mike Niezgoda, a public affairs officer for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Niezgoda said the agency wants to remind people of the dangers associated with walking across the border outside of ports of entry. 

"The winter season presents sub-freezing temperatures, forested hilly terrain, swampland, deadly ice, and countless rivers, streams, and lakes. Those caught in these conditions for even a short amount of time run the risk of frostbite, hypothermia, and death," the statement said. 

Leon said the teams involved in the search for Vasquez-Flores were involved in two similar searches in the same week. 

In the other searches, the migrants were found alive. 

"But it's happened and it's going to happen more, certainly in the winter months because the people that are coming across are not aware of the the high rivers. They're not aware of the cold temperatures," Leon said. 

He said Vasquez-Flores's family has been advised of her death. He was not aware whether she had any children, but he said she may have been pregnant.

"We believe that she, based upon what we've seen, that she was possibly pregnant," he said. "Horrific." 

It is unclear if any arrests have been made in connection with Vasquez-Flores's crossing into the United States. 

Champlain Mayor Janet McFetridge, reached in her car, called Vasquez-Flores's death a tragedy. 

"It's just absolutely horrible," she said.