SAN ANTONIO TEEN MISSING AFTER TRAFFIC DISPUTE IN MEXICO

The Daily Sentinel ^ | 7 May 2004

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

SAN ANTONIO — A teenage father from San Antonio has reportedly been missing in a Mexican border city since last weekend after a minor traffic accident turned into a violent dispute. Mexican officials were searching an area near the Rio Grande and the U.S. Border Patrol is assisting with helicopters and boats.

A U.S. consular official in Piedras Negras, Mexico, said one person has been arrested for his part in Sunday's attack on 17-year-old Jason Contreras. "According to police, he said they picked (Contreras) up and then apparently beat him with baseball bats," consular representative Dina O'Brien said in an online story in the San Antonio Express-News on Friday.

Contreras and his 17-year-old girlfriend, Valerie Cardenas, and their infant son traveled to Piedras Negras to attend a baby shower for the missing teen's sister, Iris Anzures. "We're scared because we don't know if he is dead or alive," said Anzures, 25. The traffic accident occurred a few blocks from where the shower was being held. Cardenas said Contreras tried to settle things peacefully, but that the driver of the other vehicle got violent.

"He tried to hit Jerry," she said. "Jerry didn't want to fight him, so he got back into the car, and then the guy started hitting us from behind. He kept rear-ending us. My son's head was going up and down." Cardenas said a group of locals arrived about 15 minutes later with at least one gun. At that point Contreras tried to run away, but witnesses have said he was caught by his pursuers several blocks away. Mexican officials with the Public Ministry in Piedras Negras, which is investigating the case, declined to comment.

But O'Brien said that, according to police, Contreras was beaten and then dropped off near the Rio Grande about eight or 10 miles north of the city, prompting the search near the river. The missing teen's father was waiting across the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass. "It's nonsense — all over a traffic accident," said Dionecio Contreras. "I'm worried. I just want to find my son. That's it."

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

I thought gun ownership by citizens was not allowed in Mexico. When strict gun control laws are in effect, only the criminals show up with guns, knowing the citizenry won't have one and especially someone from the U.S. visiting in Mexico won't have one. Now, if Contreras had been armed...this might have turned out differently. And, they're probably still using baseball bats -- they've not been banned.

[TXBSAFH]

Those Mexican border towns are armed to the teeth. And for the record Americanos go missing all the time in Mexico, particularly the interior.

[vetvetdoug]

Piedras Negras and Ciudad Acuna are open cities. A trip to either of those border towns will put one's life in peril. I was hammered on a post I made several months ago when I stated that both of those towns should be erased off the face of the earth but I stand by my personal observations.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

I've been to Piedras Negras. It wasn't too bad before. I guess it is deteriorated significantly. Now, Juarez is a different matter -- VERY dangerous place. I just didn't think Piedras Negras was that bad.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

A friend of mine drove a new Porche from Leredo, Texas to Monterrey, Mexico two or three times while going to school down there. He said it helped to
1. Have a roll of tens to hand out to neighborhood kids so they can guard your car and 2. Keep a roll of 20s handy when asking directions of police or civil guards.

[Fishing-guy]

Is that a roll of US dollars or Mexican Peso?

Personally, now a day, I have grown weary of traveling outside the major tourist cities in Mexico.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Greenbacks, senior.

[PreviouslyA-Lurker]

That makes it an expensive school. What was his major?

[Ramonan]

1. Gun ownership is strictly forbidden--if you are a Gringo. Carry a gun, prepare to spend time in a Mexican jail. By the Way, YOU will pay all costs for your food and lodging in that jail.
2. If the murderer is ever found, GUESS WHAT?! Mexico will not extradite because the perp can get a life sentence or the Death Penalty.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Spanish. The school was known as the Tech in Monterrey. I took a 6 week summer session in Spanish there. Lovely campus.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

Hmmmm...