Family members carry the body of Widman, who drowned four months earlier trying to cross into the US, from the family's home to their church in Yepocapa, Guatemala, on June 19. CHENEY ORR/REUTERS
The journey of Rossanna and Widman, their full names not given, began in the Guatemalan village of San Juan La Laguna, on the shores of turquoise Lake Atitlan, where they met when he bought the tortillas she was selling for lunch.
It ended in the murky waters of the Rio Grande.
The couple drowned as they tried to wade across the notorious part of the river that links Piedras Negras, Mexico, with Eagle Pass, Texas, on Feb 24, just two among the hundreds of people who lose their lives trying to cross into the United States every year.
In June, relatives collected Widman's casket from Guatemala City and carried it back along the winding highland roads to his hometown of Yepocapa in a white van toward his final resting place. Dozens of community members filed through the streets to mourn the popular 26-year-old, often called by his middle name Alex.
Hageo, whose sister Rossanna drowned four months earlier trying to cross into the US, looks behind a photo of his sister hanging in his brother's room in San Juan La Laguna, Guatemala, on June 26. CHENEY ORR/REUTERS
Rossanna, his 25-year-old partner, was buried in San Juan La Laguna, near her family.
In the Guatemalan highlands, US election campaigning about immigration and the salvos about who was doing what to secure the border were far away. For the people here, the story is simply that of two of their young who left to earn some money but came back in boxes in the back of a van.
"She wanted to be a chef but we didn't have the money for her to study," said Francisca, Rossanna's mother.
"That's why she wanted to go to the USA. She was going to work in a restaurant. I didn't want her to leave but she insisted that five years would give her and Alex the opportunity to raise money to build their own house and open a restaurant here."
Rossanna (left), 25, holds onto her dad Alfredo, who grasps hands with Rossanna's fiance Widman as they attempt to cross into Eagle Pass, Texas, US, on Feb 24. CHENEY ORR/REUTERS
Although the number of people attempting to cross the border but apprehended by US authorities has declined in recent months, increased security on the US-Mexican border in recent years has pushed migrants to take increasingly perilous routes, migration advocates said.
Grupo Beta, which assists migrants on the Mexican side of the border, said it rescued 450 people whose lives were in danger during the first seven months of 2024 and recovered 34 bodies.
Missionaries and family members mourn for Widman at a church in Yepocapa, Guatemala, on June 23. CHENEY ORR/REUTERS
Doomed attempt
Most migrants use "coyotes" — smugglers. Rossanna and Widman traveled with Alfredo, Rossanna's father, who paid coyotes to take them across Mexico.
In the early evening of Feb 24, the three approached the river at Piedras Negras carrying their belongings, accompanied by a coyote and two other migrants.
Rossanna was the last of the group to enter the water. At first she was nervous but excited, and Widman smiled as he encouraged her. It soon became clear the current was strong and the group lost their footing and returned to the Mexican side.
Community members prepare food during the funeral of Widman at their church in Yepocapa on June 19. CHENEY ORR/REUTERS
Then they decided to try again.
The mood was more somber. A US National Guard officer arrived on the opposite bank and shouted at them in Spanish through a megaphone to return, telling them the river was dangerous.
It was too late. There was no sign of Widman or Rossanna.
Family members ride in a van back to their hometown of Yepocapa after collecting Widman's body on June 19. CHENEY ORR/REUTERS
Rossanna's body was found the next day on the Mexican side of the river. In a daze, Alfredo identified his daughter and returned to his home in Guatemala. Her body was returned to her family several weeks later. Widman's was found on the US side and returned four months later, after much bureaucratic wrangling.
Now Alfredo — who faces years of debt to work off the cost of the doomed trip to the US — works on a farm in San Juan La Laguna. He has a 5-year-old son, Hageo, who he helps dress in the morning. Hageo will grow up to know his older sister only from her photo — smiling and dressed in colorful local clothing — that hangs in the family home.
In Widman's home, the frame that holds his photo on the mantelpiece is turned backward, a frame around blank cardboard. His mother is not yet able to face it. It brings her too much pain.
Agencies via Xinhua
Rossanna's father Alfredo helps his son Hageo get dressed before heading to work on June 26. CHENEY ORR/REUTERS
Marta, Widman's mother, weeps before entering the room holding her son's body in Yepocapa on June 19. CHENEY ORR/REUTERS
Andres, Rossanna's brother walks towards his sister's grave in San Juan La Laguna, Guatemala, on June 27. CHENEY ORR/REUTERS
