Gangs impede search for missing tourist at U.S.-Mexico border lake
Nor did he say how often he contacts them, nor whether they have been “helpful” in the past. I think this sheriff should be questioned.ZAPATA, Texas – A search for a missing American tourist presumably shot and killed by Mexican pirates on a border lake has been hampered by threats of an ambush from drug gangs, U.S. officials said Thursday.
U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar told reporters that Mexican authorities are doing everything they can to find David Hartley’s body while trying to keep their own crews safe.
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Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez said he has sent word to the Zetas that he wants the body returned and has no plans to prosecute.
“We just want a body,” Gonzalez said. “We cannot arrest anybody for what happened in Mexico, we cannot prosecute on the state level anybody for what happened in Mexico. We just want a body. I did send word to the drug cartel, the Zeta cartel in Mexico, I sent word to them unofficially.”
Gonzalez, who would not say how he had contacted the Zetas, said he has not received a response.
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At a news conference at the Zapata County Courthouse on Thursday, Rep. Henry Cuellar (center) and other officials addressed the disappearance of David Hartley on the Mexican side of Falcon Lake. ERIC GAY/The Associated Press