FBI Expands Efforts for Information in Death of Border Patrol Agent

EL PASO - The Federal Bureau of Investigations is expanding its efforts to find information related to the death of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Rogelio Martinez last month.Digital billboards are going up in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, with the FBI requesting information from anyone driving through Van Horn from 10 pm to midnight on Nov. 18, said Emmerson Buie Jr., the FBI special agent in charge, on Friday.That's the time frame when Martinez and an unidentified partner suffered severe head injuries, and were found in the bottom of a culvert just off Interstate I-10. The total reward for information has grown to $45,000 -- $25,000 from the FBI and $20,000 from the state of Texas.The National Border Patrol Council immediately insisted both agents were stoned by undocumented immigrants, drug traffickers, or both. Shortly following the death, President Donald Trump renewed his call for a border wall.But two weeks later, investigators are exploring the possibility that an accident, not at attack, was the cause of Martinez's death. A growing theory is that a tractor trailer sideswiped Martinez and his partner, who suffers from memory loss.Culberson County Sheriff Oscar Carrillo does not discount that line of investigation, saying vehicle accidents are common in his county and region. Carrillo, a veteran law enforcement official, was one of the first responders to the scene and said evidence gathered there did not suggest an assault.  Continue reading...

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