The failure of the federal government to secure our nation’s southern border appears to have claimed another innocent victim. The body of longtime rancher Rob Krentz was found over the weekend, and signs are pointing to him having been gunned down by someone whose tracks lead back to Mexico.

A longtime rancher was killed on his Douglas-area property over the weekend, and neighbors worried that his homicide was connected to increasing border-related crime in the area.

The Cochise County Sheriff’s Office offered little information into the late-Saturday shooting death of 58-year-old Robert Krentz, whose family began the Krentz Ranch more than 100 years ago.

Krentz’s body was found on his land, which is about 35 miles northeast of Douglas, just before midnight Saturday, said Carol Capas, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Office.

The Sheriff’s Office, aided by the U.S. Border Patrol, had no suspects Sunday and continued to follow leads, Capas said. She declined to comment on reports from neighbors and border activists that Krentz’s death was related to smuggling in the area.

Area residents said Krentz had no enemies, and they could think of no motive for his death other than the possibility it was related to what they called the growing level of crime in the area related to illegal immigrants and drug smugglers.

Tom Tancredo, a former U.S. representative from Colorado, was visiting ranchers near Douglas to discuss border issues when he heard of Krentz’s death.

Tancredo said he and Krentz were friends and that he was “a mild-mannered guy” who was known for providing illegal immigrants with food and water.

Then this report, from the Arizona Republic, added significant details.

A prominent southeast Arizona rancher sped away in his all-terrain vehicle after being shot, the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office said Monday in releasing more details into Saturday’s slaying near the Mexico border.

The body of Robert Krentz, 58, was located before midnight Saturday on his 35,000 acre ranch about 35 miles northeast of Douglas after his brother reported that he had lost radio contact with Krentz earlier in the day.

Krentz apparently came upon one person when he was shot and his dog was wounded, detectives said.

While Krentz was still in his vehicle, mortally wounded, he managed to drive the ATV away from the scene at a high rate of speed before becoming unconscious, investigators said.

Foot tracks were identified and followed approximately 20 miles south to the Mexico border by sheriff’s deputies, U.S. Border Patrol trackers and Department of Corrections dog chase teams, authorities said.

So far, there have been no suspects identified and no arrests.

Meanwhile Congress is busy destroying our nation’s health care system while Homeland Security goes after Christian groups in Detroit.

A nation without borders is no nation at all. Securing our southern border should be a national security priority, yet both Democratic and Republican administrations have ignored the issue thanks to lobbying from open-border illegal alien advocacy groups. In fact, just talking about securing the border often draws cries of racism from both sides of the aisle.

So it appears that another innocent life was lost in pursuit of being politically correct. Maybe one day Washington will realize that American lives are being risked and even lost in order to appease illegal alien advocacy groups. Nah.

And you can’t trust “comprehensive immigration reform”, either, as it’s typically a product of the same groups. It promises secured borders while concentrating mostly on amnesty for illegals. Then, after enough time has passed, the border security provisions are dropped and the flow of illegals continues.