Buffalo, New York - A nearly blind refugee from Myanmar who went missing after being abandoned by border patrol agents only five miles from his home has been found dead in Buffalo, NY.

Nurul Amin Shah Alam was a 56-year-old Rohingya refugee who fled violence in Myanmar and arrived in Buffalo in December 2024. He was nearly blind and spoke no English.

In 2025, he got lost while on a walk and ended up on the porch of a woman's home while using a curtain rod as a walking stick. The woman called the police, and he was charged with trespassing and possessing a weapon.

Shah Alam posted bail and was released on February 19, having agreed to a plea deal with the district attorney's office.

His family was not informed of this. Instead of driving him all the way home, border patrol officers dropped him off at a Tim Horton's donut shop about five miles from his home.

Shah Alam's body was discovered on Tuesday night by local police officers and identified by the Erie County Medical Examiner, Investigative Post reports.

City Hall spokesperson Ian Ott said that homicide detectives "are investigating the circumstances and timeframe of events leading up to his death, following his release from custody," but that the medical examiner believed his death to be "health-related."

In a statement, CBP said that the officers had offered him a courtesy ride and dropped him off at the donut shop because it was "a warm, safe location."

"I'm devastated, and I'm very frustrated," Imran Fazel, an advocate for Rohingya refugees in the US, told the Investigative Post.

"We never thought anyone would experience anything like this since coming to the United States. It doesn't make me feel safe in a country like this."