Falcon Lake Murder Update

An update on the Falcon Lake murder.

The Mexican investigator, Armando Flores Villegas, was decapitated and his head delivered in a suitcase to the Mexican military’s Eight Zone headquarters in Reynosa on Oct. 12.  Remind yourself who else decapitates people on a regular basis.  The sick jihadi influence is in northern Mexico.

StratFor does indeed have a story on it's front page, but it's subscription only so no quoting. But, it does say that the truck the Hartley's drove to Falcon Lake had license plates from the Mexican stae of Tamaulipas and, of course, they drove their jet skiis straight into a known drug cartel war zone. It goes on to state that the cartel scouts saw this as the Hartleys arrived on the American side of the lake. So, they were marked for death at first sight.

Los Zetas No. 2 Miguel “Z-40” Trevino Morales is apparently attempting a damage control effort by identifyting and eliminating the lower level criminals who attacked the Hartleys.

I still say the Hartleys were fools to be there in the first place but they were obviously lulled into a sense of safety by the fact that they had lived in Tamaulipas, Mexico for 2 years and had just recently moved back to the American side of the border.

Stand With Arizona says

STRATFOR says captured intelligence shows that David Hartley was targeted for death once the Zetas thought he was a spy for a rival cartel. Doesn't make it any less tragic, but does back up Mrs. Hartley's story. One thing is for sure, this lake is a zone of lawlessness, and the Feds need to shut it down. There is nothi...ng to stop anyone or any materials from moving into the U.S. via this lake.

and then links to this story in the San Antonio News

Lake killing blamed on blunder

By Lynn Brezosky - Express-News

BROWNSVILLE — A global intelligence company Wednesday said the death of U.S. citizen David Michael Hartley on Falcon Lake was a case of mistaken identity in a turf war between rival drug cartels.

Hartley, who was shot during a Sept. 30 sightseeing trip to the Mexican side of the binational reservoir, was shot by Zeta cartel enforcers because he was mistaken for a spy of the rival Gulf Cartel, according to the report by STRATFOR, and Austin-based think tank specializing in intelligence and international issues.

The report goes on to say Hartley's body likely was destroyed as Los Zetas went into “damage control” mode and that the lower-level operatives responsible for the unauthorized strike against him now are on the Zetas' hit list.

“The cartel boss — Miguel Treviño — is highly upset over the fact that these individuals shot and killed Mr. Hartley and it's our understanding that the cartel boss is hunting for the killers of Mr. Hartley so he can take care of them himself,” said Fred Burton, STRATFOR's vice president of intelligence.

Burton, who doesn't cite his sources, goes on to say the beheading Tuesday of Rolando Armando Flores Villegas, the lead Mexican investigator in the case, was a stern signal to both the United States and Mexico that no body will be produced and to leave the situation alone.

Hartley's wife, Tiffany, has said the two were ambushed while taking pictures of a submerged Mexican town.

She said she raced to U.S. shores without her husband after a futile attempt to lift his body, the gunfire trailing her well across the U.S. line.

The case has drawn international attention, with Tiffany Hartley and her family appearing on various news shows defending her story of lake pirates and pleading for action amid a drug war that has Mexican officials paralyzed by fear.

Her mother, Cynthia Young, said the family had seen the STRATFOR report but had no comment yet on its findings.

“It hasn't been confirmed through the investigative officers here,” she said. “But we're still standing and believing for a miracle that we will get David back in some fashion and that's the way God wants it. But he's in charge.”