Melvin Guachiac (L) and Wilmer Tulul.Photo: Johan ORDONEZ/getty

A girl holds a portrait of Melvin Guachiac (L) and Wilmer Tulul -killed inside a tractor-trailer in Texas after crossing from Mexico- in Tzucubal village, Nahuala, Guatemala, on June 30, 2022. - Melvin and his cousin Wilmer, both 13, were among the 51 migrants who died after they were abandoned in a suffocatingly hot tractor-trailer truck in the US state of Texas. (Photo by Johan ORDONEZ / AFP) (Photo by JOHAN ORDONEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Heartbreaking details about those who died in anabandoned tractor-trailerin San Antonio earlier this week are starting to emerge.

Wilmer Tulul and Pascual Melvin Guachiac, 13-year-old cousins from Tzucubal, Guatemala – an Indigenous Quiche community of around 1,500 people in the mountains about 100 miles from the country’s capital – made the trek to the United States in search of a better life for themselves and their loved ones, their families told theAssociated Press.

Wilmer’s mom, Magdalena Tepaz, told the outlet the boys had left home on June 14. The last time she would hear her son’s voice was in a short, four-word audio message: “Mom, we’re heading out.”

Wilmer’s father, Manuel de Jesús Tulul, told AP his son yearned for a better life not only for himself, but for his three siblings as well, and hoped to have a house and own land someday.

Melvin’s mother, María Sipac Coj, said the boys grew up together and did everything with one another, and that her son “wanted to study in the United States, then work and after build my house.”

Magdalena Tepaz, mother of Wilmer Tulul.Esteban Biba/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Esteban Biba/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock (13013187a) Magdalena Tepaz (R) and Maria Sipac (not pictured), mothers of migrants who died in the container in San Antonio, Texas, United States, cry outside the Foreign Ministry in Guatemala City, Guatemala, 30 June 2022. Maria Sipac, mother of Pascual Guachiac and Magdalena Tepaz, mother of Wilmer Tulul, both 13-year-old migrants who died in a container in San Antonio, Texas, arrived at the Guatemalan Foreign Ministry to do a DNA test and recover the bodies of the minors to bury them in their native Nahuala, Solola. 53 migrants died due to suffocation from being locked in the container where human traffickers left them abandoned and locked up in San Antonio, Texas, USA on 28 June 2022. Mothers of deceased migrants in San Antonio Texas claim their bodies in the Guatemalan Foreign Ministry, Guatemala City - 30 Jun 2022

Relatives had reportedly arranged and paid half of the $6,000 the smuggler charged to bring the boys across the border, and were awaiting their arrival in Houston.

Those same relatives were the ones to tell Wilmer and Melvin’s families of their deaths, and the Guatemalan government confirmed the boys' deaths on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the two mothers arrived together at the Guatemalan Foreign Ministry to do DNA tests so their sons' bodies can be returned to them. Tepaz broke down in tears as she spoke about her son while a little girl, believed to be one of the boys' sisters held up a picture of the inseparable duo.

CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP/Getty

Melvin and Wilmer’s families join others who have beenspeaking out about their tragic losses.

On Wednesday, the mother of two victims of the San Antonio tragedy said her sons had tried to get jobs in America but had been denied time and time again so say this as a last resort for their family.

Karen Caballero, of Honduras, toldNoticias Telemundothat her sons, Fernando José Redondo Caballero and Alejandro Miguel Andino Caballero, were also found in the tractor-trailer on Monday.

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Themother said that her sons began their journey on June 4, according toReuters, which cited separate media interviews. Also joining the brothers was Margie Tamara Paz, 24, whom Caballero referred to as her daughter-in-law, theWashington Postreported.

The Honduran government has since confirmed that identification documents for the brothers and Paz were found inside the tractor-trailer, according to NBC News.

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source: people.com