On Thursday, January 17, 2002, at 12:08 a.m., Border Patrol Agent Eloy Hernandez was killed in an automobile accident while on patrol near Progresso, Texas. He was rounding a curve on a gravel road when his vehicle rolled over twice. A fellow Border Patrol Agent located the wreck. Agent Hernandez was flown to Valley Baptist Medical Center, Harlingen, Texas but had already succumbed to his injuries. Agent Hernandez had been with the Border Patrol for over three years and was assigned to the Weslaco Station in the McAllen Sector and a graduate of the 367 session of the Border Patrol Academy at Charleston, SC. Agent Hernandez was a native of Mercedes, Texas.