In 1858, the judge of Rosario, Mexico, sent a message to the mayor of Reynosa that he had tried to arrest the Karankawa but they moved north of the American border beyond his jurisdiction. He added that Mexicans and Americans should work together for the Karankawas' arrest. Later that year, Juan Cortina made a surprise attack on the recently returned Karankawa and annihilated the last members of the tribe. In a study on the Karankawa published in 1888, one interviewee "thought that some may be still in existence, but could not tell where."