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Dozens of migrants found inside 18-wheeler in Jackson County
FOX 26 Reporter Tiffany Justice has more on the discovery and what's next for the migrants.
JACKSON COUNTY, Texas - The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office is still looking for 40 migrants after a tractor-trailer broke down off Highway 59 Friday morning, about 85 miles from Houston.
"They’ve been dehydrated and are just suffering from exhaustion," said Kelly Janica, Jackson County Sheriff.
BACKGROUND: Dozens of migrants discovered in tractor-trailer that broke down in Texas
Inside the trailer was 104 undocumented immigrants. The sheriff's office says when they opened the back of the vehicle, many of them jumped out and ran away into nearby brush and corn fields.
"As they were picked up or given up, they were given water and food, taken care of and treated," said Janica. "I did talk to one of the detainees who spoke good English, he told me there were no children on the truck, they were all adults."
The Jackson County Sheriff's Office has taken 64 into custody. Nine were first taken to the Jackson County Hospital to be treated for dehydration.
FOX 26 caught the moment when the last group was boarding a bus to be transferred to U.S. Border Patrol Custody.
"How bad they were dehydrated, it may have been a blessing that they broke down. Because if they had gotten further, the guy from Honduras told me, he was headed way north," said Janica.
Jackson County Sheriff Kelly Janica was asked about what he makes out of this situation, saying he’s never seen a case of this magnitude involving over 100 undocumented immigrants.
"Hell, it’s a mess. I don’t know how else to put it, Texas is in trouble and nobody wants to help us," said Janica. "I really don’t want to get into the politics of it all, but Texas is going to have to decide what to do."