PICTURED: Smiling Indian family who froze to death just steps away from the US border after 'walking in temperatures as low as -40F for up to 11 hours', as Canadian authorities say they are believed to be victims of human smuggling

 An Indian father who froze to death alongside his wife and two children worked as a teacher and farmed his own land before they made the desperate and dangerous journey to cross in the United States from Canada, where they trudged through waist-deep snow in a blizzard for 11 hours.   

Jagdish Patel, 39 and Vaishailben Patel, 37 were found dead with their children Vihangi, 11 and Dharkmik, three, in a field north of the US border on January 19 as temperatures plummeted to as low as -40F near Manitoba, Canada with blowing snow and poor visibility advisories issued on the night of the four's ill-fated trek last week.  

The family have been pictured for the first time, smiling in an image taken before their tragic journey which has been linked to a human smuggling operation.

Steve Shand, 57, from Deltona, Florida has been charged with human smuggling and an investigation into the family's deaths continues. 

The family, originally from Gujarat, is believed to have made their way into Manitoba from Toronto, where they initially entered Canada on January 12, last Tuesday. 

Pictured: The Patel family, including Jagdish Baldevbhai Patel, 39, Vaishaliben Jagdishkumar Patel, 37, Vihangi Jagdishkumar Patel, 11, and Dharmik Jagdishkumar Patel, three

As there was no abandoned vehicle on the Canadian side of the border, it's understood someone drove the family to the border and left the scene. 

Relatives said the the father of the family worked as a teacher and farmed land they owned, the National Post reported.  

Ramandeep Grewal, president of the India Association of Manitoba, told the BBC that there is 'a common sense of feeling guilty' in the region's Indian community following news of the incident.

He said the Patels were rumoured to have walked for 11 hours, adding: 'You don't expose yourself to that degree of cold for minutes, let alone hours.'

The High Commission of India released a notice with the family's identities and said their immediate relatives have been informed.

Police in the western state of Gujarat in India have begun delving deeper into the deaths. Ashish Bhatia, director general of police in Gujarat, said investigators are trying to determine whether there was a travel agent in India who helped the group.

A special team, led by a senior consular officer from the Consulate General of India, is in Manitoba to help with investigations on the Canadian side and to offer services for the victims.

RCMP officers searching the area where the Patel family froze to death after crossing the border from the US near Emerson, Manitoba, Canada last week

Manitoba Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) found the four bodies near Emerson, Manitoba, after US border patrol agents advised them they had picked up a group of Indian nationals on the US side.

One of the individuals was found with a backpack full of items for an infant.

Steve Shand (pictured) 57, from Deltona, Florida has been charged with human smuggling

He told investigators he was carrying the backpack for a group that got separated from his.

Investigators have said they believe the deaths are linked to a human smuggling scheme.

Shand faces counts of transporting or attempting to transport illegal aliens. He was released on bail Monday.

Authorities believe the family of four were separated from another group of five Indians who were traveling on foot in the snow as they tried to cross the border.

That group of five was also apprehended last week and had new-looking winter gear that matched Shand's, the documents said, and their boots matched prints from people who walked across the border last month, according to US Department of Homeland Security special agent John Stanley.

One woman walking had to be hospitalized for frostbite and may have part of her hand amputated, authorities said.

The charge document read: 'The investigation into the death of the four individuals in Canada is ongoing along with an investigation into a larger human smuggling operation of which Shand is suspected of being a part.' 

Shauna Labman, a human rights professor who studies migration at the University of Winnipeg, said going south from Canada into the US is less common than the opposite direction.

The US is usually easier to get to, by land or air, and Canada is generally seen as having fairer refugee policies, she said.

Hemat Shah, who is part of the Gujarati community in Winnipeg, Manitoba organised a virtual prayer for the family this week.

It is believed the family of four tried to cross into the US on foot as temperatures plummeted to -35C (-31F) near Manitoba, Canada last week

He told CBC: 'My heart is crying. What they may have gone through crossing this border, you know, we can't visualize. We can't imagine this.'

A statement from RCMP superintendent Rob Hill yesterday said the Patel family first arrived in Canada on January 12 through Toronto and made their way to 'Manitoba and eventually to Emerson on, or about, January 18'.

It added: 'There was no abandoned vehicle located on the Canadian side of the border – this clearly indicates that someone drove the family to the border and then left the scene.

'With what we know so far of their activities in Canada, along with the arrest that occurred in the United States, we believe this to be a case of human smuggling.

Shand was arrested in North Dakota at a border patrol stop, just feet away from where the bodies of four Indian nationals were found 

RCMP officers with the Integrated Border Enforcement Team (pictured) found the bodies after receiving concerning information from their counterparts in the US

'Our officers with Major Crime Services and Federal Policing are looking at every aspect of their journey.

'This includes their travel from Toronto on January 12 to Emerson around January 18.

'This is an extended period of time for a family who is unfamiliar with Canada to be travelling across the country.

'A part of the investigation is determining whether this travel was facilitated in some way by an individual or individuals.

'It is our belief that people had interactions with the Patel family during their stay in Canada. This can include hotel, gas station or restaurant employees.' 

According to the BBC, the RCMP would not comment on whether the case was linked to seven other Indian nationals found by border agents on the same day. 

Shand was charged with human smuggling last Thursday, which led to the discovery of the bodies which were found in Canada near the US border in what authorities call a failed crossing attempt during the freezing blizzard. 

After a difficult search in nearly impassible terrain, RCMP Assistant Commissioner Jane MacLatchy said officers found three bodies together - a man, a woman and a baby - 33 feet from the border near Emerson, Manitoba. 

The search continued and a teenager first believed to have been a boy, was found a short distance away. It is believed they died from exposure. 

RCMP officers in Canada with the Integrated Border Enforcement Team found the bodies after receiving concerning information from their counterparts in the US regarding possible human remains near the border town of Emerson, Manitoba.

The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota said Shand had been charged with human smuggling after seven Indian nationals were found in the US, leading to the discovery of the bodies.

Court documents filed Wednesday in support of Shand's arrest alleged one of the people spent a significant amount of money to come to Canada with a fraudulent student visa. 

According to documents, a US Border Patrol in North Dakota stopped a 15-passenger van just south of the Canadian border last Wednesday. 

Shand was driving and court documents alleged he was with two undocumented Indian nationals.

Around the same time, court documents said five other people were spotted by law enforcement in the snow nearby. The group, who were also Indian nationals, told officers they'd been walking for more than 11 hours outside in frigid conditions.

A woman stopped breathing several times as she was transported to the hospital. Court documents said she will require partial amputation of her hand. A man was also hospitalized for frostbite but was later released.

One of the men in the group was carrying a backpack that had baby supplies in it. Court documents said he told officers it belonged to a family who had become separated from the group overnight. 

A border marker between the US and Canada outside of Manitoba last Thursday, where a Florida man was arrested for human smuggling after the bodies of four people were found nearby

Road signage is posted just outside of Emerson, Manitoba, last Thursday, where the bodies were found on last week in the province of Manitoba just 33 feet from the US border

MacLatchy told a news conference in Winnipeg on Thursday that once Mounties were notified the family may still be in Manitoba officers immediately began to search the area, however, the likelihood of several that night was low.

'It is an absolute and heartbreaking tragedy,' MacLatchy said.

They were wearing winter clothing, she said, but it would not have been enough to save them with the freezing conditions.

'These victims faced not only the cold weather but also endless fields, large snowdrifts and complete darkness,' MacLatchy added.

Manitoba RCMP Assistant Commissioner Jane MacLatchy holds a news conference in Winnipeg last week after Mounties found the bodies of four people near the US border

Dave Carlson, pictured, the reeve of Emerson-Franklin, speaks to media in his office in Emerson, Manitoba, last week

Officials in both countries said it is more common to see crossings north from the US into Canada. Border crossings into Canada on foot increased in 2016 following the election of former US President Donald Trump.

That December, two men lost their fingers to severe frostbite after getting caught in a blizzard while walking from the US into Manitoba. A few months later, a woman died of hypothermia near the border on the American side.

In 2019, a pregnant woman who walked across the border was rescued after she became trapped in a snowbank and went into labor.

Emerson-Franklin Reeve Dave Carlson said illegal crossings there have dropped significantly in recent years. He was surprised to learn of the four deaths.

'If you look at the political climate on both sides of the border, it's just mind-boggling to me that anyone had that sense of desperation to try and cross in extreme conditions.'

Deputy Patrick Klegstad with the Kittson County Sheriff's Office in Minnesota said his department is supporting the American side of the investigation. Its officers patrol the 'desolate' open fields near the border every day, he said, and the area where people crossed is treacherous, especially in the cold.

'Why they picked that spot to travel would be the million-dollar question.'

Klegstad, echoing Canadian officials, said it's uncommon to have people make the harrowing journey from Canada into the US.

'It's not very often we do have south-bounders.'