Three hunters met a tragic end in Bastrop County, Texas, while trying to save a dog that had accidentally fallen into an underground cistern.
The group from Florida had convened for a hog hunting session when their dog strayed into a nearby cornfield and subsequently fell into the cistern.
Delvys Garcia, 37, Denise Martinez, 26, and Noel Vigil-Benitez, 45, took immediate action to rescue the trapped animal.
Bastrop County Sheriff Maurice Cook provided an account of the incident. The sheriff’s office, responding to an early morning distress call, found the trio inside the cistern. Initial investigations suggest that one individual entered the cistern first, with the others following in an attempt to help. A fourth person in the group, a Texan who had invited the others for the hunt, did not enter the cistern and made the call for assistance.
The rescue operation faced challenges due to the presence of toxic hydrogen sulfide gas and concerns regarding the cistern’s structural integrity. After ensuring proper ventilation and using a drone for a preliminary assessment, the rescue team managed to recover the bodies by evening.
The cistern, part of a private property with an undisclosed owner, became the unfortunate site of this incident. Autopsies will be conducted to determine the exact cause of the deaths.