Family Freezes to Death at US-Canada Border, Suspects Face Trial

A tragic case unfolds as suspects stand trial over the death of a family that froze while attempting to cross the US-Canada border. Authorities investigate human smuggling links. 

Almost three years following the tragic deaths of an Indian family of four who froze in Canada during their ill-fated attempt to enter the United States, two men are now on trial, accused of aiding in their smuggling across the border.

The discovery of a backpack containing children’s clothes and toys was initially what concerned US Border Patrol agents.

On that winter morning in January 2022, following a severe blizzard, authorities arrested a man driving a van near the US-Canada border on suspicion of smuggling migrants.

The border guards apprehended seven Indian nationals along with the driver. One individual was carrying a backpack, and there were no children among them.

Border agents were informed that a family with two children, initially traveling with the other migrants during their nighttime border crossing, had become separated from the group.

Canadian police launched a search and discovered the bodies of Vaishaliben Patel, her husband Jagdish, and their two young children—11-year-old Vihangi and three-year-old Dharmik—in a field in Manitoba just 12 meters (39 feet) from the US border.

It is believed that the family, who had traveled on visitor visas from their village in western India to Toronto, Canada, were attempting to cross into the United States when they became trapped in a blinding blizzard with bone-chilling temperatures dipping below -35C (-31F).

Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel (who is not connected to the deceased family) and Steve Anthony Shand have been charged with assisting them in undertaking the tragic journey.

Each of them is charged with human trafficking, criminal conspiracy, and culpable homicide not amounting to murder in the US state of Minnesota. Their trial will commence on Monday with jury selection, and both have entered pleas of not guilty.

Court documents submitted in the case disclose an intricate, purportedly global network underlying human smuggling operations aimed at facilitating the entry of foreign nationals into North America.

In this alleged case, the process started with payments amounting to thousands of dollars made to illegal immigration agents in India. These agents then linked individuals eager to relocate overseas with a network of smugglers operating in the US and Canada.

Since the Patel tragedy, at least two additional families have lost their lives while attempting to unlawfully cross the US-Canada border.

Immigration experts are concerned that undocumented migrants will increasingly rely on clandestine smuggling networks in the coming years, due to Donald Trump’s incoming administration and its plans for mass deportations.

Mr. Shand, the van driver, was arrested on the same day that the Patels’ bodies were discovered.

According to police, he was discovered near the border between Minnesota in the US and Winnipeg in Canada with a 15-passenger van, accompanied by two Indian nationals who were illegally present in the US.

Five other individuals, all from Gujarat—the Patel family’s home state in India—were discovered walking towards the location where Mr. Shand was apprehended.

One individual, referred to in the documents as VD, informed officers that the group had crossed the border on foot during the night. The journey took them 11 hours and they anticipated being picked up by someone upon reaching U.S. soil.

VD informed authorities that he paid a substantial amount of US$87,000 (£68,519) to an organization in India. This group facilitated his entry into Canada by fraudulently obtaining a student visa and later assisted him in illegally entering the United States.

Meanwhile, Mr. Patel stands accused of playing a central role in organizing the smuggling operation.

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According to testimony given by Mr. Shand following his arrest, he managed a casino in Orange City, Florida. Government records indicate that Mr. Patel, who the police say was also known as “Dirty Harry,” lacks legal status in the U.S. and has been denied a U.S. visa five times.

He is believed to have enlisted Mr. Shand for the illegal transportation of individuals across the US-Canada border, maintaining regular communication with him regarding travel plans, rental car coordination, hotel reservations, and pick-up spots for Indian nationals.

According to court documents, the two had talked about the harsh weather on the day when the Patels’ bodies were discovered. Mr. Shand texted Mr. Patel: “Make sure everyone is dressed for blizzard conditions please.”

The Patel family is thought to have been linked to the two men through a contact in Toronto, who was associated with an India-based organization that facilitated entry into Canada using student visas and subsequently smuggled people into the US.

In a statement to the BBC, Mr. Patel’s lawyer expressed anticipation for the trial and emphasized their opportunity to demonstrate that Mr. Patel was not involved in this tragic event.

None of the other lawyers involved in the case provided a comment.

In Gujarat, police have arrested two Indian nationals in connection with the Patels’ death. According to Indian authorities, the men were identified as “illegal immigration” agents.

An investigation into this operation based in India has uncovered that, after entering the US, some Indian nationals were taken to a restaurant chain in Chicago—whose name remains undisclosed by investigators. There, they worked for “substandard wages” to repay debts owed to their smugglers.

The final destination of the Patels remains uncertain, as do the reasons behind their decision to undertake such a treacherous and unlawful journey.

Soon after their death, residents from their home village in India informed the BBC that they were aware of the family’s travel plans and knew they had entered Canada on visitor visas. Concern among family members arose when communication ceased about a week following their departure.

At one time, both Jagdish and Vaishaliben worked as teachers, leading what seemed to be a stable life in India. However, like many others from the village of Dingucha, they were drawn by the allure of abundant opportunities abroad and felt compelled to leave their homeland.

A councilman from Dingucha told the BBC back then, “Every child here grows up dreaming of moving to a foreign country.”

As the Patels finalized their travel plans, Border Patrol agents across the ocean in the U.S. observed a recurring pattern of “fresh footsteps” every Wednesday in northern Minnesota near the US-Canada border.

Believing that the items might have belonged to individuals crossing the border illegally, the agents started regularly monitoring the area. This included conducting a survey on 19 January 2022 in spite of a snowstorm that rendered rural roads nearly impassable.

It was the footprints that ultimately guided the police to discover the Patels in a snow-covered field.

“The next thing I have to say will be hard for many people to hear,” Assistant Commissioner Jane MacLatchy of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police informed reporters the day after, as they announced news of the deaths.

“It is a devastating and heart-wrenching tragedy.”

BBC