Border Patrol agents find boy with name and phone numbers on his shoes in Texas cornfield

A 3-year-old boy was found by Fort Brown Border Patrol agents alone and crying in a south Texas cornfield, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said. The federal agency said the boy had his name and phone number written on his shoes when he found.

"We believe the boy was with a larger group that ran when they encountered Agents," Border Patrol said Tuesday. The boy was discovered near the intersection by Southmost Blvd. and Southpoint Rd. by the Border Patrol K-9 team.

Border Patrol said the the boy does not speak well enough to communicate, and he was taken to a local hospital for a medical evaluation. An agent purchased clothing for the child, who was taken to the Centralized Processing Center, where he is being monitored by child care workers while awaiting being turned over to the Department of Health and Human Services.

He was photographed viewing a computer screen in the care of agents. Border Patrol said its "additional attempts to locate the child's family were unsuccessful." He will likely be sent to a facility for unaccompanied minors, The Associated Press reported. 

A flood of migrants heading to the U.S. shows no sign of receding. And many of them are young. Border Patrol has apprehended more than 20,000 unaccompanied minors since January, the AP reported, and almost 9,000 last month alone.

In:
• Brownsville
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection