Earlier this week, a man was found dead near the United States-Canada border. Today, the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) identified the man as Fritznel Richard, a 44-year-old who was trying to reach his family in the U.S.
The SQ also confirmed Richard died of hypothermia, though the coroner will look into the “precise cause and circumstance of his death,” according to the CBC.
Richard had reportedly been missing since December but the search for him ended on Dec. 29 after officials believed he had made it across the border successfully.
American border agents spotted his body near Roxham Road along the Quebec/New York border, an unofficial crossing site that asylum seekers frequently use to gain access to Canada from the U.S., during one of their patrols in a helicopter.
Several other people have died near the U.S.-Canada borders over the years. The Washington Post reported that a Dominican man also died near Roxham Road in 2019 while trying to reach his daughter in the U.S.
In early 2022, CBC reported that a family of four migrants died in Manitoba near the U.S. border.
