Posted on 10/07/2010 3:53:24 PM PDT by roses of sharon
ZAPATA, TEXAS — Blood, witness accounts and other unspecified evidence all corroborate the version of events laid out by a Colorado woman whose husband is missing and presumed dead after an attack on a lake straddling the Mexican border, the sheriff leading the investigation said this afternoon.
Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez Jr. detailed some of the reasons he does not doubt that David Hartley, a 30-year-old Loveland native, was murdered a week ago by a drug gang on Falcon Lake, a 44-mile long waterway bisected by the U.S.-Mexico border.
And Gonzalez's faith was echoed by three congressmen who visited this border town today to discuss the ongoing effort to find Hartley's body and return it to American
soil.
"We have to rely on the law enforcement officials," said U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, at an afternoon news conference.
Hartley's wife, Tiffany, told sheriff's investigators that the couple had ridden their personal watercraft into Mexican waters to explore the town of Old Guerrero, which was flooded after the Falcon Dam was built in the 1950s. One of its spectacular sights is the ancient Catholic church, rising from the reservoir's waters. Tiffany Hartley told investigators that the couple was approached by armed young men in several boats, and that her husband was shot in the head. At one point, she said she tried to pull him onto her waverunner, but she ultimately fled amid gunfire and was chased all the way to the shore on the edge of Zapata.
Her story has been the subject of speculation among Mexican officials and others in recent days, and the first question at today's press conference was whether Cuellar or two other congressmen were suspicious of it.
But Gonzalez said he is not and said there is extensive evidence to corroborate her version of events.
He said an eyewitness - a man working outside that day - witnessed Tiffany Hartley being chased by a small boat with several men in it. He said investigators have concluded that the man was truthful and had no connection to her.
In addition, he said Tiffany Hartley's life jacket was smeared with blood that likely stained it as she tried to pull her husband's body onto her craft. And he said other witnesses have been interviewed who saw the couple in Zapata before they set out on their, and the information - and, in particular, the times - provided by those people also line up.
He said the type of attack described by Tiffany Hartley is exactly like other incidents in April and May on the Mexican side of Falcon Lake in which Americans were robbed. The only difference, he said, is that no one was injured then.
Finally, he said "other evidence has surfaced" that he would not specify that backs Tiffany Hartley's statements and descriptions.
The effort to locate David Hartley's body and return it to his family grew more intensive Thursday, Cuellar said. He said Mexican authorities had assured him that 60 federal agents were involved in searches both on the ground along the banks of the lake near Old Guerrero and in the water. They were using 20 vehicles, three boats and a helicopter.
A similar search had begun a day earlier but was called off after members of a drug cartel apparently threatened the law officers.
"It's not where you're going out there and it's the middle of a park and everything's fine," Cuellar said. "There are threats."
Time to look for a water resistant holster and weapon to don along with that life vest in that part of the country, I guess.
This sure shoots down Wendy Murphy’s theory on Fox News that this didn’t happen.
Many people on FR were doubting her story. I could never figure out why as this lake is on the border with Mexico.
And that, in a nutshell, is the reason Mexican authorities are challenging her story.
Guess who is the second largest source of imported oil for the U.S.? That's right, Mexico. How soon will the drug cartels control that? Don't think that hasn't crossed their mind.
Only a Socialist would blame the victim.
Wendy always tends to doubt the victim. (Except in cases of rape or incest.)
You’re right, that pretty well sums her up.
I saw that, along with lectures on being Mexican haters...lol, good grief!
Oh, that same Wendy Murphy who believed the Duke ‘victim’ was telling the truth. That Wendy Murphy???
LOL!
Yep, that one. She really got skewered over that and she had it coming. :)
Well, then the solution is to go in and clean out the drug cartels. We could do it, but first we’d need a total news black out, the go in and wipe them off the map.
Mayhem coming from south of the border. Who’d of thunk it? Good thing we have a wide open border!
That would just cause the loss of a nice weapon when a sniper strikes. What is needed is a Patton like response. Do a little brush work for say, oh maybe five miles from the edge of the lake back into Mexico. Leave nothing alive in that zone but blades of grass.
Many Texas FReepers are verifying that this lake is high risk and has had other incidences of ‘pirate’ problems.
Many Texas FReepers are verifying that this lake is high risk and has had other incidences of ‘pirate’ problems.
Let’s phone in an anonymous tip that they aren’t really Mexican pirates, but Branch Davadians.
These are some rather substantial items not brought up in previous interviews or media reports.
Why?
Yeah, like that's going to happen.
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