Body of Missing Texas Guardsman Bishop Evans Recovered: Officials

Texas National Guard Specialist Bishop E. Evans in an undated photo. (Gov. Greg Abbott)

The body of the Texas National Guard soldier who went missing and died while attempting to rescue illegal immigrants who may have been drowning in the Rio Grande has been found and recovered, officials said on April 25.

The man, identified by Texas Military Department officials as Specialist Bishop E. Evans, 22, of Arlington, went missing during his efforts on April 22 to rescue the migrants.

“We are devastated by the loss of a member of our Guard family,” Maj. Gen. Tom Suelzer, adjutant general for Texas, said in a statement. “We recognize the selflessness of this heroic Soldier who put his life above others in service to our state and national security. The Texas Military Department sends our deepest condolences to the family. Our thoughts and prayers are with them during this difficult time.”

Evans was assigned to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star when the incident took place. Evans removed his body armor and entered the Rio Grande in a failed bid to rescue the illegal immigrants.

“Texas National Guard Specialist Bishop Evans is a hero who risked his life in service to Texas & America,” Abbott wrote on Twitter on April 24.

Maverick County Sheriff Tom Schmerber provided details about the incident to CBS News.

“He jumped in the river,” Schmerber said. “They never saw him come out.”

An American flag flies near where National Guard soldier Bishop E. Evans went missing, in Eagle Pass, Texas, on April 25, 2022. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Officials said the two immigrants were taken into custody after they were extricated from the Rio Grande, which forms part of the U.S.–Mexico border. The illegal aliens are believed to be involved in drug trafficking, authorities told CBS and other news outlets over the weekend.

Evans was assigned to A Battery, 4-133 Field Artillery Regiment in New Braunfels, the Texas Military Department said in a statement. He joined the Texas Army National Guard in May 2019 and took part in Operation Spartan Shield in Kuwait before returning to Texas in 2020.

Operation Lone Star has deployed thousands of Guard members across Texas’s 1,200-mile (1,920-kilometer) southern border since launching last year. The multibillion-dollar operation also includes a heavy presence of state troopers and authorizes Guard members to help make arrests.

Abbott, a Republican, said the operation is needed to curb the historic levels of illegal immigrants pouring across the border. He’s also criticized the Biden administration for what he and other Republicans—and some Democrats—say are lax border security policies.

Abbott also has transported illegal immigrants from Texas via bus to Washington, D.C., in recent days, coming after the White House signaled it would end Title 42, a COVID-19-related health rule that allowed for the expulsion of illegal aliens.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.