Have 1,671 Dead Bodies Been Recovered In Texas Since 2011?

Our weekly check-in with the Texas Truth-O-Meter.

By Alexandra HartMay 1, 2019 10:32 am,

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says that since 2011, 1,671 dead bodies have been recovered in Texas – with many of those found in Brooks County.

Patrick made the claim at a press conference earlier this month, where he and other Texas Republicans spoke about what they see as a crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border. Patrick said photos show skeletons sitting in the South Texas desert “like something we would see in a third-world country where there’s been some sort of civil war.”

Is that a fact? Madlin Mekelburg of the Politifact Texas fact-checking team based at the Austin American-Statesman has the answer.

Written by Sara Schleede.

Listen to the full interview in the audio player above.

Note: A previous version of this post incorrectly stated the number of bodies recovered.