Snow-covered bodies of 2 men from Senegal found in New York woods near Canadian border

An RCMP officer stops people as they enter Canada via Roxham road on the Canada/US border in Hemmingford, Que., Saturday, March 25, 2023. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes)

MOOERS, N.Y. -

Two men from Senegal froze to death and were found in the snow of a wooded area close to the Canadian border, New York state police said.

The bodies of Abdoulaye Ndoye and Ndongo Sarry, both 25 years old from Dakar, were found Monday in the border town of Mooers. A Border Patrol agent was on a routine search in the woods when a canine detected a body under the snow, and then a second body, state police said in a release Thursday.

Authorities did not say why they believed the men were in the woods, though their bodies were found in a rural part of northern New York that has become increasingly popular for people trying to cross illegally into the United States from Canada by foot.

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Autopsies determined the cause of death to be hypothermia due to exposure in a wet and cold environment. A coroner ruled the deaths accidental, according to police.

State police were investigating.

The number of illegal crossings at the northern border is small compared to the southern border. The northern border is expansive and unfortified, but illegal crossings can be perilous, especially in the winter.

In December, the body of a 33-year-old woman was found in a northern New York river after a crossing.