The Texas National Guardsman who drowned Friday after jumping into the Rio Grande on the Texas-Mexico border to save two immigrants had not been given the proper equipment to conduct a water rescue, reports the Texas Tribune.The Texas Military Department, responsible for equipping the Texas National Guard, had ordered “rescue ropes and ring buoys” for guardsmen in February, but the equipment had not arrived, leaving most guard members without safety equipment to perform their duties, according to the Tribune and Military Times. The body of Spc. Bishop Evans, a 22-year-old artilleryman from Arlington, Texas, was recovered Monday, not far from the area near Eagle Pass, Texas were he was last seen. The Texas Military Department says Evans tried to save two people struggling in the river as they were attempting to enter the US illegally. Evans drowned, however, while the two immigrants survived. The immigrants have been described as having been part of “illicit transnational narcotics trafficking,” said the Texas Military Department.
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