On September 19, 2004, at approximately 2:45 p.m., Senior Patrol Agent Travis W. Attaway was part of a three-man team conducting marine Border Patrol operations on the Rio Grande near the Free Trade Bridge at Los Indios, Texas, when their boat capsized. Agents Attaway, Jeremy Wilson, and Javier Sandoval were ejected from the boat into the fast-moving waters of the Rio Grande. Agents in a nearby boat responded to the distress calls and were able to rescue Agent Sandoval, but they could not locate Agents Attaway and Wilson. An intensive multi-agency search and rescue operation that included the Government of Mexico was initiated, and on September 21, 2004, at approximately 1:30 a.m., the body of Agent Attaway was recovered. At approximately 3:05 a.m., the body of Agent Wilson was recovered. Both agents were located within 150 yards of where their boat had capsized.

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Agent Attaway was 31 years old at the time of his death. He was a graduate of the 359th Session of the Border Patrol Academy and assigned to the Harlingen Border Patrol Station in the McAllen Sector.