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Justin Trudeau called the deaths of a man, woman, baby and teenager, victims of an alleged human smuggler, a 'mind-blowing' tragedy

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National Post Wire Services

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Dressed in new winter jackets, balaclavas and insulated rubber boots, a group of Indian citizens walked hours in the prairie darkness through fields of knee-deep snow hoping to get to the United States.

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They tried to follow the same route taken by three people a week earlier through southern Manitoba. But any boot prints that had been there before would have been filled with snow.

They faced high winds and temperatures so severe that a family of four, including a baby and a teen, didnt make it across the border and died in the snow.

Seven did, including a woman who had to be flown to hospital, where doctors were deciding whether to amputate one of her hands.

On Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada is doing all it can stop people-smuggling across the U.S. border, and called the deaths a mind blowing tragedy.

The man, woman, baby and teenager were found dead east of Emerson, Manitoba, approximately 10 metres north of the border with Minnesota.

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The four have tentatively been identified as a family from India, part of a larger group trying to enter the United States by walking across snow-covered fields in a remote region in frigid conditions.

It was an absolutely mind-blowing story. Its so tragic to see a family die like that, victims of human traffickers and of people who took advantage of their desire to build a better life, Trudeau told a news conference.

This is why we are doing all we can to discourage people from crossing the border in an irregular or illicit manner. We know there are great risks in doing so, he continued.

Canada, Trudeau said, was working very closely with the United States to stop smuggling and help people taking unacceptable risks.

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Local officials said the incident was unusual because illegal migrants generally try to cross into Canada from the United States, rather than the other way round.

American investigators say the deaths of four people are linked to a larger human smuggling operation.

The United States Attorneys Office for the District of Minnesota said Steve Shand, 47, has been charged with human smuggling after seven Indian nationals were found in the U.S. and the discovery of the bodies.

Court documents filed Wednesday in support of Shands arrest allege one of the people spent a significant amount of money to come to Canada with a fraudulent student visa.

The investigation into the death of the four individuals in Canada is ongoing along with an investigation into a larger human smuggling operation of which Shand is suspected of being a part, John Stanley, a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations, said in court documents.

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According to the documents, a U.S. Border Patrol officer in North Dakota stopped a passenger van just south of the border in a rural area between Minnesota and North Dakota on Wednesday morning. Shand was driving and court documents allege he was with two undocumented Indian nationals who had crossed the border from Canada.

The van had Missouri licence plates. Agents found plastic cups, bottled water and juice, and snacks in the back of the vehicle, say the documents. The items are detailed on receipts from a day earlier from a Walmart in Fargo, N.D.

A rental agreement in Shands name shows the van was picked up from the Minneapolis airport on Monday, say the documents. A receipt shows he stayed in a hotel in Grand Forks, N.D., on Tuesday.

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At one point Wednesday morning, the van ended up in a snow-filled ditch. The documents say the driver of a snow removal truck pulled the van out and spoke with Shand. The driver said Shand told him that he was on his way to visit friends in Winnipeg.

Shortly after agents stopped the van, they found five other Indian nationals in the area. They had walked across the border expecting to be picked up by someone on the U.S. side, say the documents.

One person told officers they had been dropped off near the border in Canada and had been walking for 11 hours. A visit to the desolate area this week showed barren fields, roads covered in snow and inaccessible by vehicles, and few buildings.

They were all wearing the same winter clothing. Most were unable to speak English and spoke Gujarati, a language spoken in Gujarat, a region in western India.

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A woman stopped breathing several times as she was transported to hospital. Court documents said she will require partial amputation of her hand. A man was also hospitalized for frostbite but was later released.

One of the men in the group was carrying a backpack that had baby supplies in it. Court documents said he told officers it belonged to a family who had become separated from the group overnight.

RCMP Assistant Commissioner Jane MacLatchy told a news conference in Winnipeg that once Mounties were notified the family may still be in Manitoba officers immediately began to look in the area.

After a difficult search in nearly impassible terrain, she said officers found three bodies together a man, a woman and a baby, metres from the border near Emerson, Man. The search continued and a teen boy was found a short distance away. It is believed they died from exposure.

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It is an absolute and heartbreaking tragedy, MacLatchy said.

These victims faced not only the cold weather but also endless fields, large snowdrifts and complete darkness, MacLatchy added.

Shand was arrested Wednesday and remains in custody. American authorities allege in the documents that Shand has likely been involved in other border crossings, including two in December.

RCMP also found a backpack at what was believed to be the drop-off point in Canada. Inside was a price tag showing a price in rupees, Indian currency.

On Jan. 12, the documents say, agents found another set of prints in the snow made by three people who had walked across the border. The prints appear to have been made by the same brand of boots worn by those who tried to cross this week.

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Shand is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Monday.

Officials in both countries said it is more common to see crossings north from the U.S. into Canada.

Border crossings into Canada on foot increased in 2016 following the election of former U.S. president Donald Trump.

That December, two men lost their fingers to severe frostbite after getting caught in a blizzard while walking from the U.S. into Manitoba. A few months later, a woman died of hypothermia near the border on the American side.

In 2019, a pregnant woman who walked across the border was rescued after she became trapped in a snowbank and went into labour.

Emerson-Franklin Reeve Dave Carlson said illegal crossings there have dropped significantly in recent years. He was surprised to learn of the four deaths.

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If you look at the political climate on both sides of the border, its just mind-boggling to me that anyone had that sense of desperation to try and cross in extreme conditions.

Why they picked that spot to travel would be the million-dollar question

U.S. Deputy Patrick Klegstad

Deputy Patrick Klegstad with the Kittson County Sheriffs Office in Minnesota said his department is supporting the American side of the investigation. Its officers patrol the desolate open fields near the border every day, he said, and the area where people crossed is treacherous, especially in the cold. Why they picked that spot to travel would be the million-dollar question.

Klegstad, echoing Canadian officials, said its uncommon to have people make the harrowing journey from Canada into the U.S.

Its not very often we do have southbounders.

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Mounties warned that people should not attempt to cross the border outside a checkpoint, in either direction, because it can be deadly.

Do not listen to anyone who tells you they can get you to your destination safely. They cannot, MacLatchy said.

Anthony Good, a sector chief border patrol agent in Grand Forks, N.D., said anyone thinking of crossing the border illegally in these treacherous conditions should not do it.

Smugglers only care about the money they are going to make and have zero regard for lives lost, he said in a statement.

Shands lawyer, Doug Micko, declined to comment about the case to National Post.

The Canadian Press, Reuters and National Post

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They walked for hours in the frozen prairie darkness, and four didn't make it - National Post