Falcon Lake: Case Closed? Five Remaining Oddities In A Very Weird Case

After the murder and decapitation of one of their own, Mexican investigators are calling off the search for David Hartley's body, temporarily at least.

So, is it case closed? Is STRATFOR's theory -- that Hartley was gunned down by Zeta thugs who believed he was a scout for the rival Gulf Cartel -- correct?

Perhaps. But we are still in befuddlement at some the statements Tiffany Young-Hartley has given the media over the past two weeks, as well as some other elements of the case. First, there's that whole magic bullet thing, where she claims to have seen her husband lifted over the handlebars of his speeding jet-ski by the kill-shot that ripped through his head, a scenario that would appear to violate some basic laws of physics.

"I have to put myself in their view that I can understand why they would think that, but...it is true and he is over there and I know I know the pirates or whoever did this have him."

If you saw your spouse killed and the authorities openly doubted your account, would you be able to find the compassion inside yourself to empathize with your doubters?

"We have points of being pulled over and being at Subway with the border patrol seeing us there. It just, you know, shows my story that, yeah, David and I were there together, we were at the boat launch together, you know, we had got stopped and Subway and that, you know, everything happened exactly the way I've been telling you guys.

"Me being a Christian and believing in God, I believe he lined all that up; he lined up the traffic stop, he lined up us going to Subway and having the Border Patrol there so my story would be supported by events that happened," she said.

It's interesting how closely Tiffany's account mirrors that of "the Good Samaritan," the completely anonymous sole eyewitness to these events. Masked and with his voice disguised, the Good Samaritan had this to say to TV station KRGV: "He believes he was meant to be at Falcon Lake that day. He believes God put him there to help Hartley. He was at the right place at the right time."

After telling CNN "If that's what the authorities think I need to do, then that might be an option," she has done an about-face and claimed that there is no need.

Dr Lillian Glass is a body-language expert. During a conversation with Hair Balls yesterday, she put us on call-waiting so she could firm up a training session with the Los Angeles Police Department -- she says she helps train their detectives on ferreting out deception.

One of the many, many things that has alarmed her about Young-Hartley's demeanor and statements over the past couple of weeks was the very first word she uttered when she called 911. Namely, she said "Hello." In her view, that is not the action of a truly frantic person. She says that people who are genuinely terrified or distraught simply launch right into the reason they dialed 911 -- they don't take the time to exchange pleasantries or salutations.

On March 7, Tiffany Young-Hartley posted on her Facebook page that she and David had driven from Reynosa to San Antonio to hear debt counselor / financial advisor Dave Ramsey speak. "Even better in person then on the radio," she wrote. "If you get a chance to see him live 'GO'. He has helped so many people get out of debt and stay on a budget that works. Luckily we are ahead of the game, but now were on track for our future."

Apparently that future arrived fast, because on April 23, she reported that she and her husband were about to take a Carnival cruise to Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel.

In early June, she was buying an entire houseful of furniture for their new digs in McAllen, where the couple had just been sent by David's employer CalFrac Well Services. The cartel violence in their former home of Reynosa had risen to unacceptable levels, it was later explained.

At any rate, Young-Hartley and David did not enjoy the nesting process: "This is a long process and doesn't help that David and I don't have the same taste," she wrote. "So agreeing on anything is almost impossible. I think were each going to take a room and decorate it ourselves. Furnishing a whole house is no fun....."

"Got to enjoy the Jet Skies this morning then Davids skie broke, so our trip was cut short" And Young-Hartley also wrote that she hoped their stay in McAllen would last longer than seven months.

Just a few days before their disastrous trip to Falcon Lake, Young-Hartley gushed about her wonderful husband and their recent trip to Key West, a jaunt which included a diving expedition.

And at some point during that time, it was decided that Hartley's services in South Texas were no longer required. He would be getting some sort of transfer back to Colorado, where both of them were from. It was very vague, and Tiffany said that the two of them would likely be living in a hotel until the kinks were worked out.

So, in the six or seven months after driving about 500 miles round-trip to attend a session of Financial Peace University, the couple furnished a home, took two pretty fantastic vacations, bought two Jet-Skis, and planned a cross-country move and extended hotel stay, all as the husband lost his oil field job.

It waslike someone posting "Went to my first AA meeting" as their status and following it up days later with beer-pong pictures.

Did they simply disregard Ramsey's advice on "living on less than you make," or did they get a sudden influx of cash? And if so, where did that cash come from?

“A normal reflex when hit in the head is to jerk backwards, as JFK did.”

Okay. But what happens when you're shot on a jet ski and your foot comes off the accelerator. Do you agree that the laws of physics would result in a body going over the handle bars?

Because in an automobile, if it suddenly stops or slows, you are in the windshield!

One of the aspects of this incident is that memory is problematic, particularly if it was very sudden and brutal. And I tend to believe people who have a witness, and then when the main investigator ends up dead.

As to the lie detector test, they're not admissible in court. I would never take one, for that reason alone.

I have posted this before, but will do so again. This witness, btw, is not the independent witness who has been seen on televison with his voice disguised.

From the San Antonio Express News 10/10/2010:

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/american_shot_while_jet_skiing_on_falcon_lake_104116729.html?showFullArticle=y

The Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call at about 2:20 p.m. from a man working in the backyard of his residence in the Falcon Estates subdivision, who stated that someone had been shot in the head and claimed that a body had been dumped by people in three boats, Gonzalez said.

Yep, I’ve been severely chastised on other boards for having the temerity to question the grieving widow’s account. Nonetheless, it’s a real life mystery and I can’t resist the challenge to try to figure it out. The drug angle certainly has merit, but this couple seems a bit too whitebread to get mixed up in something like that. They had to know about the murders and be headings associated with the drug cartels, so they would have had to be totally desperate to try something like that. Of course, they did move back to the States, so maybe they thought it was safe to do on this side of the border. And the Mexican investigator getting decapitated certainly seems a bit of a coincidence. Still, I like the insurance scam angle.I believe they were stopped by the cops for not having the proper license tags on their vehicle- or something like that. I’m not sure either. I’d bet dollars to donuts the couple were weaned on TV. The woman’s account her husband went flying after being shot, smacks of a lifetime exposed to violent movies. I mean, when you’re shot you drop. Did you know you can’t even shoot a guy’s hat off his head (Mythbusters)? And you’re right, she doesn’t seem too bright. She probably thought a good story featuring murderous pirates (along with her husband’s blood on her life vest) would be more than sufficient for a big insurance payout. Oddly enough, in most cases like this, the cops are fairly tight lipped and say stuff like, “the woman is not a suspect blah blah blah”. Yet the local sheriff, along with some big time politicians and news organizations seem to be actively supporting and promoting her story.

>> They may have gone to pick up a drug shipment <<

Stongest possibility, IMHO.

>> he’s alive and they’re trying to run a lame insurance scam <<

Number two on my list of likelihoods.

>> it could have been a love triangle murder <<

Not in the running, AFAIC.

Presumably "falling off" is a common occurrence on jetski boats ~ so all of them (particularly those rented out like these were) are equipped with a dead-man switch.

That way when you fall off out in the middle of the bay, or lake, or river, it stops and you can swim to it easily to get back on and start up again.

I am trying to figure out why anyone would wire across a deadman switch on a jetski. Just doesn't make sense.

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