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Mario Aguelar Comacho
SIX MILE — A 33-year–old illegal immigrant, released by Pickens County authorities to federal agents last November and subsequently deported four months ago, drowned Saturday while swimming in a cove at Warpath Landing.
The Pickens County Coroner’s Office said Monday that a diver eventually retrieved the body of Mario Aguelar Comacho, of Pond Drive, following his disappearance around 1:31 p.m. An autopsy is being performed at Greenville Memorial Hospital, and the case remains under investigation by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office and the Pickens County Coroner’s Office.
Pickens County sheriff’s deputies initially arrested Comacho last November in response to a disturbance on Pond Drive. The victim told officers that Comacho had used a garden hose to put water in the gas tank of her vehicle before fleeing into the woods. Deputies eventually located Comacho and, due to his intoxicated state and statement from the victim, arrested him for public disorderly conduct and malicious damage to personal property.
While Comacho was being processed at the Pickens County Detention Center, a standard background check discovered that he was in the United States illegally. A subsequent investigation revealed that Comacho had illegally entered the United States on five occasions — in 1996, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005.
Pickens County Sheriff David Stone said at the time that Comacho had used 15 aliases, three different dates of birth and was arrested in Florida, Michigan and Texas on various charges.
“This guy has seen more of the country than I have,” Stone said.
Six days following his arrest last November, Pickens County Detention Center personnel transferred Comacho to the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) service of the Department of Homeland Security. Assistant Sheriff Tim Morgan said ICE officials deported Comacho a sixth time on Feb. 23.
That marked the last time Pickens County sheriff’s officials had heard of Comacho’s whereabouts until last Saturday, when deputies were called to the scene at Warpath Landing off S.C. Highway 183. When deputies arrived, they were informed that two individuals had attempted to swim across the small cove near the boat landing and that one of the individuals had disappeared under water.
Witnessed told sheriff’s deputies that they had searched the area for approximately 15 minutes prior to calling 911. A search by Pickens County Rescue, with assistance from a depth finder, located an object roughly 30-feet offshore in the cove. A diver subsequently recovered the body of Comacho in approximately 22 feet of water.
Morgan said Comacho’s case has been a frustrating one for the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office.
“It emphasizes the need of the federal government to better secure our borders,” Morgan said.
Morgan added that 74 illegal immigrants have been processed through the Pickens County Detention Center during the past eight months and, of that number, 28 have been sent to ICE officials for deportation.
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July 1, 2008
9:57 a.m.Report inappropriate content
Only 36,433,677 to go!
Of 74 only 28 have been sent to ICE for deportation? Why not all 74?
If the Feds would let the Border Patrol do their job we wouldn't need ICE.
July 1, 2008
10:43 a.m.Report inappropriate content
The Feds pick and choose who they deport. Sickning. We get to still keep up the ones they don't deport.
July 1, 2008
11:06 a.m.Report inappropriate content
I cannot believe this guy got into the US, SIX separate times! This speaks volumes for the illegal immigration problem that is not properly being addressed. Valuable services and time were provided by the police as well as rescue squad.
July 1, 2008
12:33 p.m.Report inappropriate content
You can look at the glass as half full or half empty. You can look at this as valuable services and time being wasted or you can look at it as valuable services and time being well spent.
July 1, 2008
6:39 p.m.Report inappropriate content
I do believe that everyone here is missing the BIG picture. I agree that some type of solution is desperately needed concerning our "Border Patrol", but let us NOT forget that a man has lost his life; a family (whether here or in Mexico) has lost a loved one. May God be with them in their time of pain and sorrow.
July 2, 2008
9:36 a.m.Report inappropriate content
If Pickens County has processed 74 illegal aliens in the last eight months, and 28 have been turned over to the Feds for deportation, I'm sure many readers in Oconee and Anderson Counties are wondering how many have been processed in those two counties. Well, how many? Since all three counties have the same problems with illegals, have Oconee and Anderson done their jobs and done what Pickens County has done? If the numbers processed and turned over to ICE from these counties are 10, 5, maybe NONE(?), it's time for them to tell us why. If they've sent corresponding numbers of illegals to ICE, they need to be thanked. If not, they need to tell us why.
July 2, 2008
10:59 a.m.Report inappropriate content
Hey NASCAR20! I agree about losing the man's life,but had the Feds done their job and kept him out of the country, he would not have been here to drown. It was this man's own stupidity that got him killed. He, first of all, should not have been here. Secondly, like so many, he wasn't wearing a life jacket. That is the main reason so many die on the water every year. They think "oh, I don't need one", OR they "don't think at all".
July 2, 2008
1:32 p.m.Report inappropriate content
There's another guilty party who hasn't been named yet. This illegal alien didn't come here because we have pretty lakes and mountains, and a nice climate. He came here to work, and because someone or some business hired him. I'd like to know who he worked for. I'd like to know if the employer told him, deportation after deportation, "If you make it back here again, your job will still be waiting for you". If he hadn't been hired by an employer whose name should be exposed, he wouldn't have returned all these times. I want the employer's name exposed. Until we go after the criminals who hire illegals, we'll continue to see this kind of illegal entry.
July 2, 2008
8:33 p.m.Report inappropriate content
Maybe this was his training venue to keep in shape for his next trip across the Rio Grande.
July 3, 2008
7:47 a.m.Report inappropriate content
Remember folks, SIX times! He had 15 aliases, so he wasn't trying to be a honest, hard working, contributing member of society but was living in a deceptive way. I certainly agree that employers have a responsibility to not hire illegals and should be seriously fined.
July 6, 2008
2:04 p.m.Report inappropriate content
A prime example of natural selection..