Three children and one woman were found dead near the Texas border on Sunday night, Hidalgo County Sheriff Eddie Guerra said.
The bodies found by border patrol agents appear to be a toddler, two infants and a 20-year-old woman, Guerra tweeted.
Authorities said the bodies were found in the Las Palomas Wildlife Management Area, southeast of Anzalduas Park, an area notorious for illegal border crossing and drug trafficking, The Washington Post reported.
Guerra said Sunday night deputies are waiting for FBI agents who will lead the investigation.
“It is an area very well known for immigrants crossing the river,” Sgt. Frank Medrano, a spokesman for the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office, told The Washington Post.
In recent months, the popular crossing point in Hidalgo County has seen an uptick in undocumented immigrants seeking asylum in the United States, according to the Monitor. {mosads}
The deaths reported Sunday follow recent criticism of migrant detention centers for unsafe and unsanitary conditions, amid what Trump administration officials have described as a crisis at the border.
The House and the Senate this week are set to take up competing bills that would provide President Trump with more than $4.5 million tied to border funding, but differ on the details of what funding would provide.