View source for Death of Elena Catarina Morales-Chan

{{Infobox incident
| title              = Elena Catarina Morales-Chan
| date               = 2025-03-28
| city               =
| county             =
| state              = Texas
| country            = United States
| location_detail    = Edcouch, Texas (Rio Grande Valley)
| facility           =
| agencies           = CBP / Border Patrol
| operation_type     = Death connected to an immigration-enforcement operation
| status             = Federal smuggling prosecution ongoing (Vicente Garcia Jr., 18; Jose Alexis Baeze-Combaluzier, 26). Some fatality trackers flag it as "difficult to categorize."
| people_affected    = 1
| injuries           =
| deaths             = 1 — drowning after pursuit crash into canal
| agents_involved    = 
| vehicles_involved  =
| verification       = source confidence: medium
| key_sources        =
* [https://myrgv.com/local-news/2025/04/02/roma-man-charged-in-deadly-edcouch-smuggling-incident-during-flooding/ The Monitor]
* [https://www.borderreport.com/hot-topics/border-crime/document-migrant-recruited-to-drive-suv-in-deadly-canal-crash/ Border Report]
* [https://www.southernborder.org/deaths_by_border_patrol Southern Border Communities]
}}

'''Elena Catarina Morales-Chan''' (29, Mexican) died on 2025-03-28 during or as a result of a CBP / Border Patrol operation, in Edcouch, Texas (Rio Grande Valley). The SUV she was in fled a Border Patrol human-smuggling pursuit during severe RGV flooding and plunged into a water-filled canal; she and a 14-year-old boy drowned while five others were rescued.

== What is known ==
* '''Person:''' Elena Catarina Morales-Chan, age 29; Mexican.
* '''Date:''' 2025-03-28.
* '''Location:''' Edcouch, Texas (Rio Grande Valley).
* '''Agency:''' CBP / Border Patrol.
* '''Reported cause:''' drowning after pursuit crash into canal.
* '''Circumstance:''' The SUV she was in fled a Border Patrol human-smuggling pursuit during severe RGV flooding and plunged into a water-filled canal; she and a 14-year-old boy drowned while five others were rescued.
* '''Official account:''' Border Patrol confirmed the drownings, framing it as a smuggling event during severe weather; two men charged federally with transporting people resulting in death.
* '''Status:''' Federal smuggling prosecution ongoing (Vicente Garcia Jr., 18; Jose Alexis Baeze-Combaluzier, 26). Some fatality trackers flag it as "difficult to categorize.".

''This is a sourced stub. If you have further documentation, please contribute (see below).''

== Help document this death ==
If you have information, photos, video, or documentation about this death:
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* '''Upload photos or video:''' [[Special:Upload|Upload media to the ICE List]]
* '''Identify an agent or vehicle:''' [[ICE List:Submit Agent|Submit agent information]]

== See also ==
* [[:Category:Deaths by immigration enforcement]]
* [[:Category:Deaths during immigration enforcement operations]]

[[Category:Incidents]]
[[Category:Incidents involving CBP]]
[[Category:Incidents in Texas]]
[[Category:Deaths by immigration enforcement|2025-03-28 Elena Catarina Morales-Chan]]
[[Category:Deaths during immigration enforcement operations|2025-03-28 Elena Catarina Morales-Chan]]
[[Category:Incidents in 2025]]