Since the year 2000, more than 3,500 border-crossers have met a gruesome fate throughout the Sonoran Desert of Arizona. With over 1,000-and-counting still missing, the numbers have only continued to rise as more attempt the trek each year in pursuit of a better life. This is the story of Alvaro Encisco, an immigrant who found his own version of the myth of the American dream, and with his art, has been on a mission giving a voice to the seekers who have died in search of theirs.

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Produced by Mike Martinez, Tyler Wray, and Grace Heerman. Music by Mike Etten. Sound design by George Drake, Jr.

For more about this story, including photos by Clarke Tolton, visit everythingisstories.com.

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