When large numbers of people are dying in remote wilderness conditions, the number of bodies recovered gives an indication, but only an indication, of the true loss of life.
The main source of information about recovered remains is medical examiners' offices. The Arizona data is compiled by the Coalición de Derechos Humanos; see Arizona Recovered Remains. The Arizona Daily Star also maintains a Border Deaths Database [currently offline], organized by calendar year.
Both sources report data provided by medical examiners for the fourArizona border counties: Pima County, Santa Cruz County, Yuma County, and Cochise County. The majority of the Arizona deaths occur in Pima County.
For the border region as a whole, yearly estimated death counts can range from the 300s (around one per day) to the 800s (over two per day), depending on the year and the method of counting. See the A.C.L.U. report Humanitarian Crisis: Migrant Deaths at the U.S.–Mexico Border (October 2009) for sources. A complete list of people who have died while crossing the border does not exist, and will probably never exist.
