It was a long day of waiting for family and friends who were eager to see their loved one slain ICE Agent Jaime Zapata.
After days of anticipation the moment finally arrived Friday afternoon.
Dozens of vehicles carrying mostly family and friends headed towards the Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport to welcome Zapata’s body.
It was an emotional arrival not only for family, friends and fellow Law enforcement agents but also for complete strangers.
Betty Forester was among dozens who lined the airport gates to experience the somber entrance.
Betty is a Winter Texan who said is having trouble coping with what’s happened to a country she would regularly visit in years past.
“We haven’t been to Mexico in 2 years…we won’t go," she said.
For her, this latest act of violence hit too close to home and she's not alone even locals worry Mexico’s violence is getting out of control
Idelfonso Sauceda, a Brownsville resident, called what’s happening in Mexico wrong.
He hopes this time something will be done to end the senseless acts of violence whose latest causality is slain agent Jamie Zapata.
For the next couple of days, Zapata’s body will be at the Buena Vista Funeral Home in Brownsville where loved ones will have the opportunity to say their last goodbyes to a man who paid the ultimate price in the line of duty.
According to ICE spokesperson Nina Pruneda, there are no public viewings scheduled for Jaime Zapata at this time.
The only services going on this weekend will be kept private.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKGBT