'Help me holy God...' Officers searching for 18-wheeler possibly smuggling immigrants
Editors note: You can listen to the full 911 call above. WARNING: Viewer's discretion advised
SAN ANTONIO - It’s a desperate search for some 80 alleged victims of a human trafficking operation, trapped in the back of a tanker truck. We must warn you that what you are about to hear and read is difficult to digest.
It is one of several 9-1-1 calls from someone alleging to be in the tanker with other immigrants.
911 Operator: Do you see anything?
Caller: No no we don’t see anything God. We don’t have oxygen.
911 Operator: You are next to the highway?
Caller: Yes, I hear the cars (leave people breathing heavy to :59
The calls were made to both the San Antonio Police Department and the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.
“It's heartbreaking to hear because clearly behind the caller, in the background, you can hear others in the car, in the trailer and they're also screaming for help in Spanish and saying that they're out of air,” says Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar.
The video was recorded by a surveillance camera on I-35 near Fischer road around midnight. You see the tanker and a black pickup pull up and then leave. They do that twice.
Caller: A tanker. A white tanker.
911 Operator: White?
Caller: Yes. We are like 80 people - approximately
The caller at one point says that some people are already dead. This is why the Sheriff’s office, Homeland Security Investigations, DPS and SAPD are asking anyone with information to come forward.
“I bet a lot of money, that if the smugglers do encounter somebody in the back of that trailer that is very, very ill, as a result of the conditions they were exposed to or even dead. They're not going to do the right thing, they're going to dump a body or they're going to abandon somebody at a hospital, maybe. They're certainly not going to do the right thing and so we're letting our deputies know to be on the lookout for anything,” Salazar said.
The only thing that is certain right now is that the tanker was traveling to San Antonio and the signal from the caller was picked up around the area where the surveillance video is from.
911 Operator: Do you remember who was driving?
Caller: No we don’t know who. Help!
911 Operator: Do you have another cell phone?
Caller: Help! Holy be God help!
911 Operator: Where did you start this trip? (silence)
911 Operator: I lost him
If you have any tips you are asked to call the Homeland Security anonymous tip-line at (866) 347-2423
If not you can call SAPD or the Sheriff's office.
