EAGLE PASS, Texas — The body of the Texas National Guard soldier who went missing after going into the Rio Grande river last week has been located, officials reported Monday morning.

The body of Specialist Bishop E. Evans was located on the Mexican side of the river, near Eagle Pass, according to Maverick County Sheriff Tom Schmerber. The body is already being escorted to a funeral home in Laredo.

“This morning SPC Evans’ body was found and identified by local authorities,” said Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas. “This young soldier made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of protecting and serving our country. He will never be forgotten.”

Evans went missing on Friday as he jumped into the Rio Grande in a section of the river known to have strong currents.

Evans is assigned to A Battery, 4-133 Field Artillery Regiment in New Braunfels, the Texas Military Department said in a statement. He joined the Texas Army National Guard in May 2019. Evans left Texas but returned in 2020 after taking part in Operation Spartan Shield in Kuwait.

Dive teams had stopped their operations Saturday evening due to the river’s strong current. Three airboats from the Texas Department of Public Safety helped with the search on Sunday.

The Texas Military Department said Evans was trying to rescue the two migrants when he disappeared.

Schmerber said Evans took off his jacket and left his radio before going into the water around 8:30 a.m. Friday.

“He jumped in the river,” Schmerber said. “They never saw him come out.

The two migrants were taken into custody by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. According to the military department, authorities believe the migrants were involved in drug smuggling.

Evans was assigned to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s sprawling border security mission, known as Operation Lone Star, which has deployed thousands of Guard members across Texas’ 1,200-mile (1,920-kilometer) southern border since launching last year. The multibillion-dollar operation also includes a heavy presence of state troopers and authorizes Guard members to help make arrests.

The mission has come under scrutiny over migrants sitting in border jails for months on trespassing charges and low morale among Guard members over living conditions, long deployments and little to do.

Migrant rescues are common in the river along the Texas border, and the attempted crossings are also sometimes deadly.