KRGV.com

BROOKS COUNTY - For many illegal immigrants entering the U.S., the journey ends in Brooks County. A special section of the Brooks County cemetery includes their graves.

The section has simple metal markers. There are no flags and only a few faded flowers. There's nothing to identity who the person buried was or where he or she came from.

"It's a terrible feeling... I think it's an empty feeling," said Alonzo Rangel of Funeraria del Angel Howard-Williamas. He's one of the workers who bury the unidentified bodies found in the Brooks Country brush.

"Our men dig our graves by hand. That's what we do here," he explained. "All of these people have so many stories that they could actually tell us."

Instead, their lives end up marked only by numbers.

Rangel and his men have buried dozens.

"If we know, it's a male, we'll write 'male.' Otherwise, we'll write 'unknown person.' We'll write the name of the ranch and the date... And this way it'll give us some sort of an identification as to who they are," said the funeral worker.

Rangel added, "We just know that they were somebody that a dream.... a dream of coming to the United States and being able to do something better with their life."

CHANNEL 5 NEWS was with Brooks County Sheriff's deputies when a call came in about a body being discovered. Sgt. Danny Davila is the department's only investigator. He and his deputies have recovered 64 bodies last year.

"It's been really, really active over the past couple of months," he said.

We followed funeral workers to a ranch, where we found the body of a 21-year-old woman from Honduras. Deputies say hunters first spotted the woman's body. She was found under a tree, probably trying to seek shelter from the elements. A coat looks as if it was used as a pillow.

Davila said she was probably with a larger group of illegal immigrants and got left behind. "There was some food there. I think they left a bag of peanuts with her," he said.

"I think that if families knew what a lot of the results were, they wouldn't take that risk," Davila added.

The county pays Rangel and his funeral home about $500 per body.

Brooks County Judge Raul Ramirez helps justices of the peace recover the illegals.

"When it's just a body in the middle of nowhere that's been decomposed for days, it is hard," he explained.

Ramirez told us he's seen terrible images he wishes he could erase.

"The other judges can tell you that it's one of the most terrible sights - to get out there.... and see what the body has become after being out in the sun and the animals have gotten to it, like the buzzards," he said. "It's really horrible."

With the number of bodies found, Brooks County is running out of money to bury them. The county pays Rangel and his funeral home about $500 to bury a body.

Ramirez explained. "We use to budget $20,000... use to be $16,000. We went to $20,000. But basically we got to do this."

The judge says he wishes he could get federal help to pay for the burials.

"A body is a body... You can't stand here and pick and choose and say it's an undocumented from another country or Mexico," explained Ramirez. "You've taken an oath to go out there and pronounce the body dead. You can't pick and choose... You can't say, "I'm not going to go out there. What's going to happen?'"

Brooks County is almost out of burial space at the cemetery. The county judge is looking for another spot to establish a new cemetery strictly for illegal immigrants.

Rangel fears he'll stay busy.

"We have to take care of them... We have to bury them... And we take care of that," he said.

"They still keep on coming, and I think they'll keep on coming. They're looking for something better."

Even when the odds are against them and the South Texas heat seems unbearable, people are determined to keep making the journey.