A Florida man has been charged with human smuggling after four frozen bodies were found just over the Canadian side of the U.S.-Canada border on Wednesday, according to the Department of Justice. The agency reported that Steve Shand, 47, had been arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents. Inside, investigators said, the agents found two “undocumented Indian nationals,” as well as “cases of plastic cups, bottled water, bottled juice, and snacks.” Five other undocumented individuals were found walking less than a quarter mile from Shand’s van, one of whom was carrying a backpack full of children’s supplies that didn’t belong to him. The man told border patrol the group had been walking for more than 11 hours and had been separated from a family of four overnight in the “high winds, blowing snow, and temperatures well below zero” described in the complaint. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police later reported the discovery of four frozen bodies, identified as a man, a woman, a teenage boy, and an infant. An investigation into the deaths of the unidentified family is ongoing, alongside an inquiry into a potential “larger human smuggling operation” involving Shand.
