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Probe continues into Cubans' trip
By Sofia Santana. Ssantana@Herald.Com. Posted on Thu, Aug.
29, 2002 in The Miami Herald.
Medical examiners in two Treasure Coast counties have made preliminary
identifications on the remains of three of the four Cuban migrants found off the
Florida coast last weekend, officials said Wednesday.
The bodies were decomposed after being in the water for days. But relatives
from South Florida, who drove to the coroners' offices in Cocoa Beach and Fort
Pierce, recognized jewelry and clothing. The names of the victims have not been
released.
The four were part of a group of up to 25 men, women and children who left
Bahia Honda on Aug. 18 on a smuggler's boat bound for Florida.
The journey was supposed to only take a day.
Worried family members in South Florida contacted the Coast Guard, which
launched the extensive search that located only four bodies.
The rest of the migrants, the smugglers and their 24-foot boat have not been
found.
Members of the Coast Guard, Border Patrol, FBI and local officials,
continued to interview relatives and others about the smuggling mission.
Leaders of South Florida's Cuban community say they want the responsible
parties found.
''I suspect that there are people behind this, funding the boats and paying
people to be in charge of these missions,'' said Jose Basulto, head of the
migrant search group Brothers to the Rescue. "Something has to be done to
change the perception that these guys are heroes.
"They're thugs. They charge humongous amounts of money to help people
leave the island, but they're only killing them.'' | 
