A gruesome discovery has been made in the back of a truck trailer after a suspicious Wallmart employee alerted authorities to a vehicle on the store’s parking lot on Sunday morning.
Police arrived and surrounded the truck on the Wallmart parking lot in San Antonio Texas and found 8 dead bodies in the back along with 30 children in serious to critical condition.
The truck was heading to Washington D.C. and is believed to be part of an “Elite” child trafficking network, according to San Antonio Police Chief William McManus.
The police were only made aware by chance when a man who inside the truck got out and asked the Wallmart employee for water.
The employee brought water for the man, then called the police and asked them to conduct a welfare check whilst the truck was parked in the parking lot, McManus said.Fox59 reports: When police arrived at the trailer, they found eight dead and 30 suffering from various injuries, according to Fire spokesman Joe Arrington.
Seventeen are critical while 13 are in serious condition, he said.
The air conditioner in the trailer was not working, officials said.
Police are searching the area to find anyone who fled the scene.
Authorities don’t know how long it was parked at Walmart, but they are reviewing surveillance video.
The driver was arrested, but police did not provide any information on him.
“The driver and whoever else we find is involved in this will be facing state and federal charges,” McManus said.
Once the victims undergo treatment, the case will be turned over to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to the police chief.
McManus said such incidents are not isolated.
“Fortunately, we came across this one and fortunately there are people who survived but this happens all the time,” he said.
“You can see that it happens late at night under darkness because they don’t want to be discovered.”