Dozens of mourners arrive in a remote area of northern Mexico ahead of the funerals for nine American family members who were killed in an ambush earlier this week.
Convoys of vehicles carrying relatives and friends, some traveling from the United States, have been rolling into the town of Bavispe in the Mexican border state of Sonora since Monday's attack. Mexican soldiers, who are now keeping watch over the area, were seen escorting visitors' cars ahead of the funeral services, which are expected to begin Thursday.
They were traveling in a caravan of three vehicles between Sonora and Chihuahua states when they were ambushed by an armed group that day. Three women and six children, some as young as 8 months, were gunned down, according to Mexico's security minister, Alfonso Durazo.Approximately 200 shell casings of .223- and 77 mm-caliber guns were found at the scenes, Cordova said.
But some relatives have taken issue with the notion that the family got caught in the crossfire between the two groups. David Langford, whose wife Dawna Ray Langford died in the ambush, said he believes his family was"targeted" by Mexican drug cartel"sicarios" -- or hit men. “We have been in this community for more than 40 years. Our community has nothing to do with the drugs and violence," he told ABC News. “This is horrific, and I am very concerned that we can’t live there anymore. My family has been destroyed.”
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