PINE VALLEY – An undocumented immigrant died over the weekend during a snowstorm while seven others were rescued by U.S. Border Patrol agents, the agency announced Wednesday.

The agency’s search and rescue team, known as BORSTAR, responded to the Pine Valley area after receiving a report around 8 p.m. Saturday that eight people who had crossed the border illegally were lost in a snowstorm.

Agents used GPS coordinates from a cell phone after one of the migrants called 911. They were able to establish communication with the group, the agency said, and the caller reported that one of the migrants had died since the initial 911 call.

Around 10:30 p.m., the rescue team located seven Mexican citizens who were all suffering from hypothermia near the 18-mile marker on Sunrise Highway. The agents provided medical treatment and moved them to the highway, where they were treated by paramedics and sent to local hospitals.

The agents recovered the body of an eighth member of the group who succumbed to the harsh weather, the agency’s release said.

The Border Patrol is working with the Mexican government and Spanish-language news media to publicize the dangers of crossing the border illegally through east county’s mountainous region during severe weather.

An Arctic storm dumped more than one foot of snow in the local mountainous Saturday night and dropped temperatures to the 20s.