Falcon Lake Shooting: David Michael Hartley Feared Dead(arrest)

[MuffyBee]

http://www.nowpublic.com/world/falcon-lake-shooting-david-michael-hartley-feared-dead-2689692.html
(video)
Falcon Lake Shooting: David Michael Hartley Feared Dead
October 1, 2010


David Michael Hartley Was Shot By Mexican Pirates on Falcon Lake on Thursday and Police Fear He is Dead

Hartley, 30, was jet skiing with his wife on the Mexican side of Falcon Lake when he was reportedly shot in the head by Mexican pirates. His wife Tiffany Hartley tried to save him, but had to retreat back to American waters when she heard bullets whizzing by her.

Search teams are still looking for Mr. Hartley on Friday but it is feared he is dead. It is thought that the couple were on the Mexican side to take pictures of a famous church in Old Guerrero and were on their way back when they saw the armed gunmen on boats. It is thought that one of the boats strayed briefly into U.S. waters when it was trying to run down Mrs Hartley.

The gunmen are suspected to be Mexican pirates, whose activity on Falcon Lake, which spans the U.S. and Mexico border, has increased over the past year. There have not been any shootings this year, and it is not known why the pirates fired at Mr. Hartley and his wife.  
(snip)

[MuffyBee]

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/new-details-emerge-in-deadly-shooting-on-us-mexico-border-lake/19658735
(video)
New Details Emerge in Deadly Border Lake Attack
October 3, 2010

(snip)
The couple were sightseeing on Jet Skis on the Mexican side of Falcon Lake on Thursday when Hartley says several boats of gunmen opened fire, striking her husband in the back of his head.

A recording of her 911 call released this weekend and reports from law enforcement officials detail the tragic incident.

"He was thrown off the Jet Ski and I couldn't pick him up to get him on mine," Hartley, 29, told the 911 dispatcher after she safely made it to shore. "Oh, God."

Texas authorities believe David Hartley, 30, died in the attack.

"[Tiffany Hartley] said she was seeing bullets hitting close to her in the water and realized that her husband had been hit behind the head," Zapata County, Texas, Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez Jr. told ABC News. "She went back trying to find, trying to help him. She went in the water trying to load up her husband to her Jet Ski ... trying to get his body and Jet Ski back to the U.S. side. She was being shot at so she finally had to let go of the body, climb back in her Jet Ski and head back over here to the United States."

Hartley told police that the armed men, who Gonzalez said he believes are pirates associated with a Mexican drug cartel, chased her into U.S. waters as she fled.
(snip)
"The one thing I dreaded on Falcon Lake has happened," said the Zapata County sheriff. "The lake is not secure, the border is not secure because the incident that I dreaded the most has in fact happened. We cannot go to Mexico, we cannot recover that body, we cannot conduct an investigation, we have to tell the family we can't do anything about it."

[MuffyBee]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/mexican-pirates-mother-slain-american-begs-hillary-clinton/story?id=11801126
(video)
Mother of American Killed by Mexican Pirates Begs Hillary Clinton: 'Help Me'
The Family of David Michael Hartley Says They've Gotten Little Help in Bringing His Body Home
October 5, 2010

A U.S. woman whose son was shot in the head by Mexican pirates while boating on a border lake in Texas is begging Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to help her, "mother to mother."

The body of David Michael Hartley, 30, has yet to be recovered days after he was killed by teenage pirates on Falcon Lake after he and his wife, Tiffany Hartley, crossed the border on their Jet Skis. U.S. officials said they're prohibited from entering into Mexican waters to search for his body and Mexico said it doesn't have the money to look.

"He needs to come home and we're begging the Mexican government, the governor of Texas, President Obama," the man's mother, Pam Hartley, told "Good Morning America" today.

"To Hillary -- mother to mother -- help me bring my son home, please," she said, crying. "She's a mother, she would know."

Tiffany Hartley, 29, said they dismissed warnings about crossing into the Mexican side of the lake to take pictures of a historic church, as part of her husband's history hobby. As they made their way back to the U.S. border, they were approached by three boats of fully-armed pirates.
"David and I were racing back to the U.S. and they started shooting," she told "Good Morning America." I looked back and I saw that David had been shot and I turned around to go get him."

Hartley said she tried as hard as she could to pull her husband onto her own Jet Ski to take him to safety, "but he's a lot bigger than me.

"You can't imagine how awful it was not being able to help him," she said.

Knowing her own life was in jeopardy, Hartley said she was forced to abandon her husband. She took her Jet Ski at top speed back to the U.S. shore and placed a panicked 911 call.

U.S. authorities have searched Falcon Lake on the U.S. side but to no avail.

"We need to get on the Mexico side so we can search for him," Pam Hartley said.

The state of Texas had warned boaters and fisherman as far back as April to stay away from the Mexican side of the lake. Since then, the drug wars along the border have gotten more violent and there have been reports of more pirate encounters.

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.

Texas' Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez put it simply: "Stay away from Mexico. It's as simple as that."
A Recent Increase in Violence

Hartley said both she and her husband knew of the warnings.
"We've heard of pirates and stuff being over there before. But we hadn't heard anything for several months," she said. "I know David. He would never put me in a position that might be dangerous."

Falcon Lake, part of the Rio Grande situated directly on the Texas-Mexico border, has recently become a haven for the pirates, and there have been at least five reported run-ins with pirates on the lake so far this year, although this is the first reported case of a death.

The sheriff said many of the pirates are teens or pre-teens, and some "barely even know how to use a weapon."

But despite that, he said he has long feared that someone would be killed.
"The one thing I dreaded on Falcon Lake has happened," he said. "The lake is not secure, the border is not secure because the incident that I dreaded the most has, in fact, happened. We cannot go to Mexico, we cannot recover that body, we cannot conduct an investigation, we have to tell the family we can't do anything about it."

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.

[MuffyBee]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/david-hartley-victim-mexican-pirates-falcon-lake-remembered/story?id=11808897
(Video)
David Michael Hartley Memorialized, Wife Tiffany Hartley Defends Herself Against Accusations
Woman Says She Would Never Hurt Her Husband
October 6, 2010

As she held a memorial service for her husband who was allegedly shot dead by pirates on the Mexican side of Texas' Falcon Lake, Tiffany Hartley addressed skeptics on both sides of the border who doubted her story.
"It's hard just to hear it," she told "Good Morning America."  "But I can see it from their point of view. I can understand why they might think that, but it's not true. ... I would never even think about hurting my husband.

"I loved him," she said.

The case has gotten so much attention that Texas Gov. Rick Perry is asking Mexican President Filipe Calderon to call him, the Associated Press reported, with assurances that Mexican authorities are searching for David Michael Hartley's body.
Perry told the AP that He says he hopes "within the next 48 hours, that the body has been retrieved. If not, we're not looking hard enough."

Hundreds of mourners gathered in a south Texas church late Tuesday night to remember Hartley.

Mexican Authorities Question Wife's Story

Hartley said she and her husband came under attack from Mexican pirates as they rode their Jet Skis on the Mexican side of Falcon Lake, but Mexican authorities have said there is no evidence of a crime as described by Tiffany Hartley.
Hartley told police the pirates shot her husband in the head. The 30-year-old man's body has not been recovered.

U.S. officials said they're prohibited from entering Mexican waters to search for his body. David Hartley's mother, Pam Hartley, has issued a public plea to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, asking for aid in bringing her son's body home.

"He needs to come home and we're begging the Mexican government, the governor of Texas, President Obama," the man's mother, Pam Hartley, told "Good Morning America" Tuesday.

"To Hillary -- mother to mother -- help me bring my son home, please," she said, crying. "She's a mother, she would know."

Dennis Hartley has said Mexican police aren't doing enough to find his son's body. On Tuesday he told The Associated Press that he believed the Mexican authorities were being paid off by drug cartels.
ouple Disregarded Warnings About Danger

"I don't think anything right now is being done," he told the AP. "I don't think at this time Mexico is really doing anything."

David Hartley was a history buff. Tiffany Hartley, 29, said she and her husband dismissed warnings about crossing into the Mexican side of the lake so they could take pictures of a historic church. She said it had been some months since they had heard reports of pirates being on the lake.

While they were making their way back to the U.S. border, they were approached by three boats of fully armed pirates, she said.

"David and I were racing back to the U.S., and they started shooting," she told "Good Morning America." I looked back, and I saw that David had been shot, and I turned around to go get him."
Under Attacks, Woman Had to Leave Injured Husband Behind

Hartley said she tried as hard as she could to pull her husband onto her own Jet Ski to take him to safety, "but he's a lot bigger than me.

"You can't imagine how awful it was not being able to help him," she said.

Knowing her own life was in jeopardy, Hartley said she was forced to abandon her husband. She took her Jet Ski at top speed back to the U.S. shore and placed a panicked 911 call.

U.S. authorities have searched Falcon Lake on the American side, to no avail.

The state of Texas had warned boaters and fisherman as long ago as April to stay away from the Mexican side of the lake. Since then, the drug wars along the border have gotten more violent and there have been reports of more pirate encounters.
Lake Has Become Pirate's Haven

Falcon Lake, part of the Rio Grande situated directly on the Texas-Mexico border, has recently become a haven for the pirates, and there have been at least five reported run-ins with pirates on the lake so far this year, although this is the first reported case of a death.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20018731-504083.html
Falcon Lake Update: Witness Supports Tiffany Hartley's Pirate Chase Description
October 6, 2010


David Michael Hartley, right, believed shot by Mexican pirates on Falcon Lake. (Personal Photo)

NEW YORK (CBS/AP) On Monday, a Mexican official seemed to question whether an attack on an American couple by Mexican pirates took place at all, but now Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez says he has a witness who saw Tiffany Hartley, the wife of missing American David Hartley, being chased by men in a small boat.
Police in Mexico will search Falcon Lake along the Texas-Mexico border today using boats and military helicopters in their search for the body of David Hartley, who was allegedly shot by pirates while jet skiing on the Mexican side of the lake five days ago.

Tiffany, who has said she was with her husband but could not save him, expressed frustration on CBS News' "The Early Show" on Tuesday that the Mexican government wasn't doing enough to help.

"As far as we know, we don't think they have been looking," she told the morning show. "We understand the possibility that the people who did this probably have him. And that's why maybe they can't find him."

In a statement, Marco Antonio Guerrero Carrizales, district attorney for the Miguel Aleman Province, writes, "We are not sure. We are not certain that the incident happened the way they are telling us."

David Hartley father, Dennis Hartley, told the Associated Press, "I don't think at this time...Mexico is really doing anything."

That should change, according to Gonzalez, who met with Mexican authorities last night. He told CBS News they promised to search all day or until they find David Hartley.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7233983.html
(video)
Perry calls for Mexico probe of death at Falcon Lake
October 6, 2010

AUSTIN — Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Wednesday he has asked Mexico's president to call him in the next 48 hours to say that the body of an American reportedly shot to death on a border lake has been recovered.

"If not, we're not looking hard enough," Perry told The Associated Press.

Tiffany Hartley of Milliken, Colo., says her husband, David, was shot by Mexican pirates on Falcon Lake last week as they were returning to the United States on Jet Skis. Falcon Lake is a dammed section of the Rio Grande that has been plagued by pirates who rob boaters and fisherman who wander into Mexican waters. Hartley's death would be the first killing on the lake.

The Hartley family has complained that Mexican authorities are not doing enough to find David Hartley's body. Tiffany Hartley has said that her husband was shot in the head by three men chasing them in speedboats and that he fell off his Jet Ski and into the lake. His body has not been recovered.

Perry said Mexico needs to use every resource available to find the body and have it returned to U.S. soil.

"I hope that if (Mexican President Felipe Calderon) calls me within the next 48 hours, that the body has been retrieved," Perry said.

Officials in Mexico's Tamaulipas state, where the shooting occurred, have cast doubt on Hartley's story, telling the McAllen Monitor that no one near the lake reported hearing gunshots or the sounds of a Jet Ski engine.

The district attorney there, Marco Antonio Guerrero Carrixales, also told the paper that authorities "are not certain that incident happened the way that they are telling us."

Mexican authorities have not responded to requests for comment from the AP.

Perry said the couple was sightseeing in Mexico.

"I find it really reprehensible for anyone, U.S. or Mexican, to speak otherwise," he said.

Perry used the incident to renew his demand that the federal government do more to secure the U.S.-Mexico border as northern Mexico sinks deeper into drug-gang violence. The violence has spread in the last few months from Ciudad Juarez, the epicenter of Mexico's drug war across from El Paso, Texas, to the Mexican side of the Rio Grande Valley, including Tamaulipas state where Hartley reportedly disappeared. Two drug gangs, the Gulf Cartel and the Zetas, are battling for supremacy there and fighting the Mexican military.

"Frankly, these two presidents (Calderon and President Barack Obama) need to get together with their secretaries of state and say, 'What are we going to do about this?'"

Perry also said he spoke Tuesday to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's chief of staff and once again made his request for an additional 1,000 National Guard troops on the Texas-Mexico border, a request that has been repeatedly denied.

U.S. authorities are unable to investigate Hartley's disappearance because it happened in Mexico.

"How many more American citizens have to die?" Perry said.

Also: friends of the victim are planning a rally in Denver. The family of David Hartley say Mexican authorities aren’t doing enough to find his body. Supporters plan to gather outside the Mexican consulate at 1 p.m. Friday (Mountain time) to call on them to do more.
*************************
(Bolded by me)
The above posted article says there are no witnesses, but today there is news of a witness.(article up thread)
It will be interesting to see if the witness I've read about in the news today is credible and can help shed some light on this case. JMHO

[QuietMonkey]

The wife says she had a gun pointed to her head (from a distance of about 10ft-that's what she said on Today Show) but was then let go by the pirates. Yet, the witness says he saw her approaching the shore while being chased by them. Why would they let her go, but then chase her? So many questions really, but that's the one most on my mind. The witness that came forth is the same one who called 911, atleast that's what I heard either on Fox or HLN.

[klaasend]

Thanks Muffy for starting this thread.  I have had a funny feeling about this one since it was first reported.  Blink just did a post on it as well:

http://blinkoncrime.com/2010/10/05/david-hartley-gunned-down-on-jet-ski-in-mexico-tiffany-young-hartley-facing-scrutiny/

[MuffyBee]

Thanks Muffy for starting this thread.  I have had a funny feeling about this one since it was first reported.  Blink just did a post on it as well:

http://blinkoncrime.com/2010/10/05/david-hartley-gunned-down-on-jet-ski-in-mexico-tiffany-young-hartley-facing-scrutiny/

TY Klaas.  I just went over to read Blink's article.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/25303403/detail.html
Memorial Held For Colorado Man Killed By Pirates
David Hartley's Body Still Missing
October 6, 2010

MCALLEN, Texas -- More than 300 people attended a memorial service for Colorado native David Hartley Tuesday evening in McAllen, Texas.
(snip)
Pam Hartley, David's mother, said family members would be at the lake Wednesday to monitor the search.

"We're going to check [on the search] for ourselves," she said.

She also said she hopes their presence at the lake will help the family heal.

Friends and the Young and Hartley families have organized a rally to bring awareness to David Hartley's murder. It will be held Friday at 12:30 p.m. at the Mexican Consulate at 5350 Leetsdale Drive, Suite 100 in Denver.

"This has left the Northern Colorado community that the couple calls home in an outrage," said the organizer in a statement to 7NEWS. "This community of friends and family refuse to believe that everything that can be done has been done and are using this rally to communicate to the Mexican Consulate, Media and hopefully the U.S. State Department, that we will not accept that 'there is nothing we can do' and that 'David may never be returned home.'"

[MuffyBee]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/7234351.html
Mexican officials stepping up search for body
October 6, 2010
 AUSTIN, Texas — The Mexican government says authorities have stepped up their efforts to find the body of an American reportedly shot to death on a border lake.

The statement from the Mexican Foreign Relations Ministry was in response to a call from Gov. Rick Perry, urging Mexico to use every resource available to find the body of David Hartley and have it returned to the U.S.

Tiffany Hartley, of Colorado, says her husband, David, was shot by Mexican pirates on Falcon Lake last week as they were returning to the United States on Jet Skis.

The statement said Mexican authorities "from the first moment" have been in contact with their U.S. counterparts to coordinate search and recovery of Hartley's body, and noted that Mexico has "stepped up their actions with the support of specialized personnel, boats and helicopters."

[MuffyBee]

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2010/10/mexican-army-joins-search-for-texan-missing-on-border-lake/1
Mexican army joins search for Texan missing on border lake
October 6, 2010




Mexican authorities, including members of the Mexican army, are now involved in the search on a border lake for a Texas man whose wife says was shot while the couple was touring the area on Jet Skis, the McAllen Monitor reports.

The Texas newspaper also says the police commander of Tamaulipas and his full staff are also joining the search.

Tiffany Hartley reported that she and her husband, David Michael Hartley, came under fire from gunmen in speedboats on the Mexican side of Falcon Lake.

She says her husband was shot through the head and that she had to abandon him and flee back across the lake to Texas.

Authorities in Mexico had questioned her account. The police commander told the Monitor earlier that no one near the lake reported hearing gunshots or the sound of anyone on a Jet Ski.

The Tamaulipas state district attorney, Marco Antonio Guerrero Carrixales, also told the newspaper that authorities "are not certain that incident happened the way that they are telling us."

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who is facing re-election, today called on Mexico's president to get involved in the case.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/7233872.html
Rally planned for man allegedly shot by pirates
October 6, 2010

 DENVER — Friends of an American man allegedly killed by pirates in a lake on the Texas-Mexico border are planning a rally in Denver.

The family of David Hartley say Mexican authorities aren't doing enough to find his body. Supporters plan to gather outside the Mexican consulate at 1 p.m. Friday to call on them to do more.

David Hartley's family lives in Colorado and he and his wife Tiffany were planning to move back before she says they were chased by speedboats while on Jet Skis on Falcon Lake last week. She says gunmen shot her husband in the head.
(snip)

[MuffyBee]

http://www.krgv.com/news/local/story/Sheriff-Search-Under-Way-on-Both-Sides-of-Falcon/SK8jd2yiNkGA9quMDllNdg.cspx
Sheriff: Search Under Way on Both Sides of Falcon Lake
October 6, 2010

ZAPATA - Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez, Jr tells CHANNEL 5 NEWS authorities are looking for David Hartley's body on both sides of Falcon Lake. Gonzalez has been in touch with Tamaulipas state police. They tell him they'll be using boats, helicopters and jet skis to search on the Mexican side.

The sheriff also confirms he's expecting the Mexican army and federal police to assist.

On the US side, searchers will use US Border Patrol boats, air support and boats provided by Texas Parks and Wildlife game wardens.

Sheriff Gonzalez says there's a coordinated effort on both sides of the lake.

[QuietMonkey]

Interesting comment:
Pahoua Mouoa says:
The whole story is fishy.. things don't add up!
#1. How did David Hartley accept someone as a friend after Oct. 2 2010?
http://www.facebook.com/Mandiexxx?ref=sgm#!/Mandiexxxxx
 
From here: http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2010/10/tiffany_young-hartley_plot_in.php

Edit link.  MuffyBee

[QuietMonkey]

Hope it's ok to post that, if not someone delete & I'm sorry if I posted something I shouln't have. I only thought of that after I posted it. I do think it's odd, but who knows. I'm not sure how fb works. Maybe he requested her and she accepted it on that date? ugh, now I feel bad for posting it. 

[QuietMonkey]

Hope it's ok to post that, if not someone delete & I'm sorry if I posted something I shouln't have. I only thought of that after I posted it. I do think it's odd, but who knows. I'm not sure how fb works. Maybe he requested her and she accepted it on that date? ugh, now I feel bad for posting it. 

Sorry, I'm talking about the link to that woman's facebook page. I shouldn't have posted it. I know she has it set to public, but still. 

[MuffyBee]

Hope it's ok to post that, if not someone delete & I'm sorry if I posted something I shouln't have. I only thought of that after I posted it. I do think it's odd, but who knows. I'm not sure how fb works. Maybe he requested her and she accepted it on that date? ugh, now I feel bad for posting it. 

Sorry, I'm talking about the link to that woman's facebook page. I shouldn't have posted it. I know she has it set to public, but still. 

If she had it set to public it's probably okay, but I've edited it since you feel badly about it QuietMonkey.  Sometimes I'm in a bit of a quandary about things like that myself. 

[MuffyBee]

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/1006/Falcon-Lake-pirate-shooting-Where-s-missing-boater-David-Hartley
Falcon Lake 'pirate' shooting: Where's missing boater David Hartley?

Nearly a week after Mexican pirates allegedly shot and killed David Hartley on Falcon Lake, Texas, his body has still not been found. What might be causing the delay?
October 6, 2010

The Mexican government on Wednesday stepped up a search on Falcon Lake – 60 miles long and straddling the US-Mexico border – for a missing US boater, presumed shot and killed by Mexican pirates nearly a week ago.
The halting attempt by the US and Mexico to find the body of David Hartley and establish security on the deceptively placid lake  highlights the degree to which cross-border communications and trust have broken down since the start of the Mexico drug war in 2006, says Texas state legislator Aaron Pena.

The result is that an issue that once might have been handled between local officials from Texas and the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas has now escalated into an international incident demanding the involvement of the Obama administration.

Border security "will be much more successful if both sides are working toward the same goal," says Peter DeShazo, director of the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

That is often no longer the case, mostly because Mexican officials who had good relations with local government and law enforcement in Texas have been forced to flee from the drug war that has claimed more than 26,000 Mexicans in the past four years, says Mr. Pena, the Texas lawmaker.

"The leaders of border communities on the Mexican side now live on our side," says Pena, who met with local and state law-enforcement officials at the lake on Wednesday. "Plus the cartels have infiltrated many aspects of government on the border, they've infiltrated law enforcement, so you don't know who to trust anymore."

The incident began last Thursday afternoon when presumed Mexican pirates, already implicated earlier this year for robbing US bass boaters who had crossed over to the Mexican side, began shooting at Mr. Hartley and his wife, Tiffany, who had gone six miles into Mexico to visit the ruins of a submerged church.

Ms. Hartley says that when her husband was shot, she doubled back to try to fetch him, but had to abandon the rescue effort in order to escape. One eyewitness saw a boat matching Ms. Hartley's description of the boat used in the alleged attack chasing her deep into US waters. A memorial service for Mr. Hartley was held Tuesday.
Mexico: No formal complaint

Amid pleas from the family and wife of Mr. Hartley, the US has put pressure on Mexican authorities, some of whom have publicly doubted the veracity of Ms. Hartley's story. Mr. Hartley's father, Dennis Hartley, told the Associated Press, "I don't think at this time ... Mexico is really doing anything."
Tamaulipas state police, however, say that Ms. Hartley must file a formal complaint  before they can begin an official investigation. Ms Hartley is expected to travel to Mexico today. In the meantime, an informal search has already been launched, said Ruben Dario Rios, a spokesman for the state attorney general's office, according to published reports.
US officials and politicians like Sen. John Cornyn (R) of Texas and Rep. Henry Cuellar (D) of Texas say they've been in communication with various Mexican agencies since the shooting happened and demand prompt action.

"David Hartley must be found," Congressman Cuellar told a Texas newspaper. "We can and must continue to urge our Mexican counterparts to search for David Hartley.”

On Wednesday, that pressure seemed to pay off as Mexican officials began a more thorough search, using helicopters and more boats on the Mexican side of Falcon Lake, which US authorities are not allowed to patrol. The investigation also appears to be making some headway as Texas authorities glean more information from sources on the other side of the lake.

Yet the cross-border tension remains palpable as Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez, who is heading up the investigation on the US side, declined an invitation to join the search in Mexico. "I think if we go out there and we end up getting into a gun battle, it's definitely an international incident that would have some repercussions," he said.
'Take back the lake'

In an interview on KURV radio in Texas, Ms. Hartley herself echoed a call by Texas Gov. Rick Perry to address the situation not just diplomatically, but with a show of force, including more National Guard troops.

“They need to have a realization, a wake-up call," Ms. Hartley said. "We need to get people down here. We need to get our Army and military and whoever. We need to double our Border Patrol and take back the lake. Why in the heck do [the cartels] have [control of] that lake? They have most of that lake.”

Pena echoed her sentiments: "On the Mexican side every inch is controlled by the cartels and it's a hotbed of criminal activity."

In the past, the Obama administration has defended its border policy against critics, saying it has spent more time and money, and deployed more National Guard troops to secure the border than any other administration. Department of Homeland Security spokesman Matt Chandler said the US government has offered resources to help find Mr. Hartley.

Nevertheless, pressure is rising on the Obama administration to get more directly involved with the situation on Falcon Lake.

"President Obama says he wants lawmakers in both houses of Congress to make progress this year on reforming the immigration system," writes Jim Kouri, vice president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police, on the Borderfire Report blog. "However, he's not talking about how his administration is failing to protect citizens from criminal aliens."

[QuietMonkey]

Thanks MuffyBee!