Body found near Socorro canal as waterway death toll grows

A body was discovered near a canal in Socorro on Sunday evening, according to the city.

The canal where the body was found is located near Socorro and Dindinger roads; it was discovered around 8:45 p.m.

A city spokesman said the “investigation is very preliminary” and offered no other immediate details.

This latest incident raises the death toll to at least eight along area waterways over the past week or so.

Last weekend, police first found a woman’s body floating along a canal in Socorro. Then last Monday, four men were found dead in an irrigation canal that diverts water from the Rio Grande to farmers in southern New Mexico and west Texas. Finally, on Tuesday night, two more bodies were found floating in a canal in El Paso’s Lower Valley.

This rash of suspected drowning deaths is happening as more migrants are coming across the U.S.-Mexico border, and more water is flowing through the canals, authorities have said.