Mexico Mexico - David Hartley, 30, Lake Falcon, 30 Sept 2010 #1

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SAN ANTONIO—An American tourist was shot in the back of the head in Mexican waters on Thursday after being ambushed by armed boaters, a Texas sheriff said. It happened near the U.S. boundary of a lake where run-ins with pirates already had fishermen and Texas officials on alert.

Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez identified the victim as David Michael Hartley, 30. Hartley and his wife were riding personal watercrafts back from Mexico on Falcon Lake when about six gunmen approached in two boats, Gonzalez said. The sheriff said Hartley was shot as the couple sped away at the sight of the boaters.

What happened to Hartley was unclear. Gonzalez said the man's wife tried circling back to pull him from the water, but she was forced to retreat to U.S. waters after being fired upon again.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/a...iff_us_man_on_jet_ski_shot_in_mexican_waters/
 
(AP) SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Texas officials planned Friday to renew warnings about pirates marauding on a U.S.-Mexico border lake after a Colorado tourist was gunned down in Mexican waters while his wife dodged bullets and raced her Jet Ski back to American soil.

Search teams combed the U.S. side of Falcon Lake for David Michael Hartley, 30, whose wife told police he was shot in the back of the head Thursday after being ambushed by gunmen on boats.

The gunmen are suspected pirates who have turned Falcon Lake, a waterskiing and bass fishing hotspot down the border from Laredo, into uneasy waters for fishermen and boaters. There have been at least five reported run-ins with pirates on the lake this year, though prior holdups had never been deadly.

Hartley's fate was unclear. Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez said 29-year-old Tiffany Hartley fears her husband is dead. She circled back on her Jet Ski to rescue him but had to retreat when she heard bullets whizzing by.

Gonzalez said he had contacted the Mexican consulate to ask them to search for Hartley on its side of the lake.

"I'm not trying to place the blame on her or him," Gonzalez said. "But we've told people not to go over there, and now this happens."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/09/30/ap/national/main6916136.shtml
 
SAN ANTONIO—An American tourist was shot in the back of the head in Mexican waters on Thursday after being ambushed by armed boaters, a Texas sheriff said. It happened near the U.S. boundary of a lake where run-ins with pirates already had fishermen and Texas officials on alert.

Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez identified the victim as David Michael Hartley, 30. Hartley and his wife were riding personal watercrafts back from Mexico on Falcon Lake when about six gunmen approached in two boats, Gonzalez said. The sheriff said Hartley was shot as the couple sped away at the sight of the boaters.

What happened to Hartley was unclear. Gonzalez said the man's wife tried circling back to pull him from the water, but she was forced to retreat to U.S. waters after being fired upon again.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/a...iff_us_man_on_jet_ski_shot_in_mexican_waters/

I'm not taking the part of the bad guys, but obviously, the pair knew they were in Mexico. She plainly stated she was forced to retreat to the US side. Why did they cross over? Was this an illegal crossing?
 
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/articles/falcon-117639-heights-police.html

Neither the body nor the jet-ski has been found. Fishermen in the area heard nothing. Mexican authorities not convinced it really happened. Me either. Illegally crossing into Mexico (and the border is marked by concrete pylons protruding above the water) in an area which has been plagued by exceptionally high levels of drug cartel violence, to take pictures of an old church?
 
After seeing Meredith Vierra interview w/ Tiffany Hartley this morning, I became suspicious. Now she's claiming the Mexican authorities are hiding his body along with the jet skis.
 
I'm not taking the part of the bad guys, but obviously, the pair knew they were in Mexico. She plainly stated she was forced to retreat to the US side. Why did they cross over? Was this an illegal crossing?


I think she's a liar
 
I'm not taking the part of the bad guys, but obviously, the pair knew they were in Mexico. She plainly stated she was forced to retreat to the US side. Why did they cross over? Was this an illegal crossing?

They were asking questions about this case on the news yesterday. Plenty of people find the wife's story fishy. The couple were 5-6 miles over the Mexican border. It was not an accident that they were over there. She claims they went there to explore some ruins.

She says they were approached by men in boats with guns. The husband was shot in the back of the head. The couple were on jet skis. Most jet skis could out run most motor boats. The jet skis can go about 60 mph. That would take a really accurate shot from a high-powered rifle at a fast moving target.

I'm not saying it couldn't happen that way, but it sounds kind of suspect. What do you guys think?
 
After seeing Meredith Vierra interview w/ Tiffany Hartley this morning, I became suspicious. Now she's claiming the Mexican authorities are hiding his body along with the jet skis.


I watched it too.

The article I read said Tiffany reported her husband was shot in the BACK of the head, yet on her tv interview she placed her hand on the center of her forehead when claiming he was "shot in the head".

So which was it?
 
They have these people on the morning shows all the times, virtually within a day or two after a horrible tragedy. For some reason, I cannot fathom being able to appear on tv five days after seeing my husband get shot in the head and be able to conduct a coherent interview. I will feel truly sorry if she is telling the truth, but she seemed a bit off to me.

edited to add - especially since his body has not been recovered!
 
I think she seems "off" because she's not telling the truth and her story isn't adding up. The Mexican Pirates must have committed this crime in record time. Ambushing the couple, killing only Mr Hartley, grabbing his body and taking both jet skis before authorities were on the scene.
 
Boy, this is an interesting one. I'm not picking sides yet, except to say that if they hadn't been in Mexican waters, this wouldn't have happened (if it did).
 
This article has the family's appearance on GMA. There's one clip where the voice of a witness explained how she narrowly escaped the boats. In the 911 call the operator spoke to the witness and he said she was unharmed except she was in shock.

I also saw an interview last night on Greta, it was with a local reporter. There is a witness of one of the boats chasing the wife and how she got away. The reporter said he got his info from LE, but they wouldn't give him the name of the witness.

It appears the husband was a bit of a history buff, and they went across the river to take photos of a 1/2 submerged church. It was when they went to leave the church area, that they spotted the boats. Her husband told her they needed to leave. It was as they raced away, the perps began firing.

The couple had lived in the area for a while and although they knew there were people that had been robbed along this body of water, nothing had happened for a few months and she said no one had ever been killed and it was always men that were victims, not women. His family had tried to talk him out of going across the border but he said he would take care of himself and his wife.

What a shame. I hope they're allowed to recover him. My prayers go out to the friends and family.

JMHO
fran


http://abcnews.go.com/US/mexican-pi...erican-begs-hillary-clinton/story?id=11801126

Mother of American Killed by Mexican Pirates Begs Hillary Clinton: 'Help Me'

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<article and video at link>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
 
I saw her on television and I believe she is telling the truth. It's sad to me that we harbor millions of Mexicans in this country and yet our citizens are not safe across the border in their country. Something's wrong with that picture. It used to be a fun day to cross into the border towns in Mexico, but I wouldn't venture there today.

This is a tragic loss for this family and they may never be able to recover his body.
 
I saw her on television and I believe she is telling the truth. It's sad to me that we harbor millions of Mexicans in this country and yet our citizens are not safe across the border in their country. Something's wrong with that picture. It used to be a fun day to cross into the border towns in Mexico, but I wouldn't venture there today.

This is a tragic loss for this family and they may never be able to recover his body.


The drug cartels are forfilling a need, the drugs are ending up HERE.

There are PLENTY of high crime areas in our own country that I wouldn't venture into because they are basically run by drug dealers.

Glass houses and all that jazz.....
 
From Fran's link:
According to ABC Rio Grande, Texas, affiliate KRGV-TV, there have been at least four previous incidents on the lake in the past five months:

April 30: Four heavily armed men boarded two boats near the Old Guerrero area demanding money.

May 6: Two armed men approached a boat and demanded cash.

May 16: Five armed men boarded a boat on the United States side of the lake.

Aug 31: Pirates, using a small boat marked "Game Wardin" tried to stop a Texas fisherman.

and this:
San Antonio dentist Richard Drake said he made sure to stay on the U.S. side of the same lake while fishing in a tournament in May, but pirates attempted to lure him across the border by pretending to be Mexican authorities.

"I turned and looked over my shoulder ... three guys in a bass boat with machine guns waving and yelling at me, 'Pull over! Pull over!" he said.


So, I do have a couple of questions: Do they live in CO or in TX? I think the parents live in McAllen but they live in CO? So how would he really know whether it was safe or not if he didn't even live there?? :waitasec: And her statement about he wouldn't put her in danger....hmmm, maybe not so much. She is much, much smaller than he is/was, so I can see how she wouldn't be able to get him up on her jet ski. :twocents:

It would certainly be a wonderful cover for a little insurance scam but IDK with all those other reports of very similar activity.....also the sheriff states that the pirates are teens, and some pre-teens who barely know how to handle a gun!

Oh, yeah, the article also says they have a witness who saw her coming back, pursued by at least one boat....
 
I'm confused. How did the pirates get her jet ski if she used it to go as fast as she could to get back to the US? How did she make the 911 call if she was swimming?

If the pirates got both jet ski's, it seems to me it won't be long before they are seen riding on the lake on the jet ski. I would think, if most of these pirates are teens (as stated in the article Fran linked) they would not be able to resist the urge to go flying around on the skis.

Salem
 
Salem,
I think they each had a jet ski, and she came back to the US on hers.....she is claiming the pirates took her husband's body and his jet ski. She called 911 once she was back on US territory.

You are right though. If they start spotting a pirate on a jet ski, that would be what I would call a clue......:Banane38:
 
After seeing Meredith Vierra interview w/ Tiffany Hartley this morning, I became suspicious. Now she's claiming the Mexican authorities are hiding his body along with the jet skis.

Just saw both interviews on ABC and NBC morning shows. There's a few red flags in Tiffany's story in my opinion. I'm not convinced she is lying but her story does seem to have changed, or at least some of the details seem to have been changed. I read a news story a few days ago and apparently there were witness' who saw her being chased back to the US side - I would like to here from them.
 
I'm a little off to one side of the fence on this...but the first time I heard the story and they played the "frantic" 911 call Wife placed.....my first thought was it wasn't so frantic and again when I saw her on the Today show this morning....it just raised more concern. I'm not buying it happened the way she said it happened. There's more to this story.
 
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