Federal authorities say a Border Patrol agent in Arizona has died.
Border Patrol officials say Agent Robert Hotten was on duty near Mount Washington, which is south of Patagonia and east of Nogales. Fellow agents found Hotten, 44, unresponsive.
Tucson Border Patrol Sector Chief Roy Villareal said Hotten responded to a ground sensor alert. Hotten and other agents began to search the area for seven people. The other agents began search for Hotten, when he did not answer his radio.
"The agents initiated CPR and then continued for over two hours. Because of the remoteness and the rugged terrain, we were unable to airlift agent Hotten in the initial location that we found him. We were also impeded in our ability to drop off medical equipment," he said.
Villareal said the FBI is handling the investigation because foul play has not officially been ruled out but that it appears agent Hotten fell and hit his head.
Medical officials pronounced Hotten dead on Sunday. He’d recently passed his 10th anniversary with the Border Patrol.
The acting commissioner for Customs and Border Protection said on Twitter that Hotten was married and had a son.
