At least 853 migrants died crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in past 12 months — a record high

Rose Lee said her nephew left his native Peru and journeyed to the U.S.-Mexico border in search of his "American dream." But she said she did not think the quest would cost him his life.

Alan Paredes Salazar, 37, drowned trying to cross the Rio Grande in early September alongside nearly a dozen other migrants whose bodies were found in the river by U.S. Border Patrol agents, his family said. The Medical Examiner's Office in Webb County, Texas confirmed it processed Paredes Salazar's body.

"My nephew's death has left us devastated. It's a very tragic death, to travel so far and die in an unknown place," said Lee, who lives in southern California.