MEXICO CITY – An 11-year-old boy traveled more than 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) by bus to the U.S. border in search of his mother, who lives in Laredo, Texas, the Kansas City Southern de Mexico, or KCS-Mexico, railroad told Efe.

Jose Enrique Sanchez was found last Sunday “while prowling around near the Puente Negro railroad gateman’s box” in Nuevo Laredo, just across the border from Laredo, by security guard Jasiel Cruz, KCS-Mexico spokesman David Eaton said.

KCS-Mexico security personnel took a look at the boy to make sure he was in good condition and handed him over to authorities, the railroad spokesman said.

“We have been told that he is in good shape and awaiting contact with a relative,” Eaton said.

Young Jose told officials that his father sent him to Nuevo Laredo on a bus, giving him 200 pesos ($15) “so he could buy something.”

The railroad is monitoring the boy’s situation and discussing how it could help him return home, Eaton said.

Some 12 million Mexicans live in the United States, with about half of them illegal immigrants. EFE