Investigation of Mexican pirates killing of American tourist intensifies

Following the murder of a U.S. citizen boating on Falcon Lake, Texas law enforcement agencies are advising visitors to stay away from the Mexican side of the popular lake while they are intensifying their investigation of a crime that angered the nation. “The Zapata County Sheriff’s Office, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department are telling boaters on Falcon Lake to stay on the United States side of the lake and not venture into Mexican waters,” said a statement released yesterday by the Texas DPS. Mexican pirates trolling the waters of the U.S.-Mexico border lake shot and killed a tourist while his wife escaped a hail of bullets and raced her Jet Ski back to American soil. The incident has renewed calls for federal action by border security advocates. Search and rescue teams patrolled the U.S. side of Falcon Lake this weekend searching for the body of Colorado tourist David Michael Hartley, 30, whose wife, Tiffany Hartley, told police he was shot in the back of the head Thursday after being ambushed by gunmen on boats. The Texas Department of Public Safety announced during a press conference that Hartley was believed to have been killed but his body had not been found. The gunmen are suspected Mexican pirates who prowl Falcon Lake, a favorite spot for water-skiing and bass fishing. There have been five previously reported pirate attacks on that lake this year...more