Official concedes 8-year-old who died in U.S. custody could have been saved as devastated family recalls final days

The life of a migrant girl who died in Border Patrol custody in May could have been saved if she had been treated differently while in U.S. custody, a government official conceded to CBS News, raising further questions about the child's death, which her parents say stemmed from negligence and discrimination.

Anadith Danay Reyes Alvarez, who was 8 years old, died in Border Patrol custody on May 17 after spending over a week in detention facilities where staff dismissed or downplayed her complaints of pain and declined to take her to the hospital multiple times, according to her family and preliminary government reports. The family was also held for over a week, despite agency rules that generally limit detention to 72 hours.

Her death, the first known instance of a child dying in Border Patrol custody under the Biden administration, triggered a federal investigation, an internal review of medical practices at Customs and Border Protection and intense criticism from advocates who say it illustrates broader problems with how migrants are treated by the U.S.