Ranchland Owners Speak Out on Death Tolls

In CHANNEL 5 NEWS Special Report: “Paying the Price,” we reported how a Honduran woman went missing on private ranch land in Brooks County. Human rights activist Eddie Canales said the woman is one of hundreds who die in the brush. He said the biggest obstacle to finding remains of missing people is getting access to do searches on private property. Landowners are speaking out about being associated with the number of people dying. The count of bodies found this year in Brooks County so far is 41. “We just think the landowner shouldn’t take the blame on this,” Susan Kibbe said. She represents most of the landowners in Brooks County. She’s the director of the South Texas Property Rights Association. Kibbe said the deaths that happen on the vast ranches are tragic, but property owners don’t deserve any blame. “Somehow the U.S. is blamed for their deaths, or ranchers are blamed for their deaths, or others are blamed for their deaths,” Kibbe said. “When they know when they come into the country illegally, they’re taking this chance.”...more