Haunting memories
Eloy Garcia is the clerk who sold water to Tyrone Williams, the man in prison for the May 2003 deaths of 19 illegal immigrants. Garcia shared his story publicly for the first time during a visit to the tragedy’s memorial on Fleming Prairie Road.
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Eloy Garcia always works the graveyard shift.
This 66-year-old single father likes odd hours.
Whether it was with the Navy in the 1960s, or at a Victoria pharmacy these days, Garcia works at night.
When his children were young, late shifts let him be home for breakfast and dinner, and at the table for after-school homework.
Now, the late hours distract his mind from his pain. One graveyard shift haunts Garcia.
This quiet man began work at midnight May 14, 2003. Two hours later, Garcia stood amid the worst human smuggling tragedy in U.S. history.
He can’t bury the memories: the everlasting images, the truck driver and the illegal immigrant who collapsed in the store in front of him.
He worries about the 5-year-old, a Mexican boy who Garcia said visited him even after the child died.
That graveyard shift forced this clerk to counseling. He blames himself for some of the 19 deaths.
Until now, Garcia shunned the media – local and national.
Five years later, he hopes sharing his story will stop the nightmares.
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May God's grace and peace be with you, Eloy.
July 27, 2008 at 4:34 p.m.