A remote farming community prepared to hold the first funerals Thursday for some of the nine American women and children killed by drug cartel gunmen. A strong security presence was on hand for funerals to be held on Thursday and Friday.
Dozens of high-riding pickups and SUVS, many with U.S. license plates from as far away as North Dakota, bumped across dirt and rock roads over desert, arid grasslands and pine-covered mountains Wednesday as night fell on this community of about 300 people. Funerals will be held Thursday for Dawna Langford and her two children, as well as Rhonita Miller and her four children, including 8-month-old twins, CBS News correspondent Manny Bojorquez reported. At least 1,000 visitors were expected to bunk down in the hamlet overnight ahead of Thursday's funerals, filling floor space in the 30 or so homes or sleeping in tents they brought with them. At least one cow was slaughtered to help feed the masses, as well as the few dozen Mexican soldiers guarding the entrance to La Mora.
Steven Langford, who was mayor of La Mora from 2015 to 2018, said he expected the killings to have a "major" impact on the community. Once upon a time he didn't think about moving around the area in the middle of night, but in the last 10 to 15 years things "got worse and worse and worse." As many as half of the residents could move away, he feared.
"It was a massacre, 100% a massacre," said Langford, whose sister Christina Langford was one of the women killed. "I don't know how it squares with the conscience of someone to do something so horrible."...
MORE
No comments:
Post a Comment