Brothers from Honduras dreamed of buying home for their mother before they died in tractor trailer along with dozens of other migrants

A pair of brothers from Honduras dreamed of finding fulfilling jobs in America and buying their mother a home before they were found dead inside a tractor trailer packed full of migrants with similar hopes for a better life.

They were among 53 people who died in the incident.

Karen Caballero told Telemundo News that her sons, Fernando José Redondo Caballero and Alejandro Miguel Andino Caballero, could barely contain their excitement about their journey to the United States. They paid a smuggler and left home in early June along with Andino’s wife, Margie Tamara Paz, she said.

“They were so excited to do the trip. Every day, they asked me, ‘Mom, when are we going to go?’” Caballero said, battling back emotion. “It was as if they were going to a birthday, like when they were little: ‘When is the birthday, Mami?’”

Karen Italia Caballero mother of Alejandro and Fernando Caballero speaks to the media outside their home on Wednesday in Honduras.
Karen Italia Caballero mother of Alejandro and Fernando Caballero speaks to the media outside their home on Wednesday in Honduras.


Karen Italia Caballero mother of Alejandro and Fernando Caballero speaks to the media outside their home on Wednesday in Honduras. (Jorge Salvador Cabrera/)

She described her sons, 19 and 22, as “healthy” and “studious” men with a passion for dancing and soccer as well as hope for a “better future.”

Andino had nearly completed a degree in marketing, while Paz held an economics degree. Still they struggled to find work in Honduras.

“I hope you triumph,” the mourning mother recalled saying ahead of their departure. “You focus... And then all the hugs, the kisses, touching.”

Fernando Redondo Caballero, left, and Alejandro Miguel Andino Caballero.
Fernando Redondo Caballero, left, and Alejandro Miguel Andino Caballero.


Fernando Redondo Caballero, left, and Alejandro Miguel Andino Caballero.

The Honduran government confirmed identification documents belonging to all three of them were found on Monday among the bodies inside a truck abandoned in San Antonio. Authorities said a total of 46 people were found dead inside the rig and another seven people have died since then.

Adela Ramírez, 28, another Honduran migrant was also identified by the government Wednesday. Authorities are still waiting on the identification of 10 other migrants from Honduras who died as a result of the sweltering conditions inside the 18-wheeler.At least 27 Mexicans and seven Guatemalans are also among those who have been confirmed dead.

Another 11 people still remain hospitalized.

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