U.S. missionary woman shot dead in Mexico near U.S. border
A U.S. woman missionary was shot dead recently in Mexico, by gunmen in a truck that chased the fleeing car she rode with her husband, then sprayed it with bullets 70 miles from the U.S. border.
Nancy Davis, 59, and her husband Sam were riding along the highway from Monterrey to Reynoso when the gunmen tried to force Sam to pull to the curb. When he slammed on the gas they opened fire. A bullet struck Davis through the head, the San Antonio Express-News said.
Sam hastily headed for the international bridge at Pharr. They met heavy traffic so he called police and customs officers for help. Pharr police and U.S Customs agents who met at the Davis truck about 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday said they saw Nancy Davis bleeding from a head wound in the passenger seat. She was pronounced dead at McCallen hospital at 1:54 p.m., the AP said.
This is the second time within recent months that an American fell victim to ongoing violence along Mexico’s border. Last October, David Hartley was fatally wounded with a bullet in his head when he and his wife were riding jet skis along Falcon Lake. Three boatloads of gunmen, allegedly drug dealers, fired at them. His wife Tiffany was chased back to U.S. waters on her jetski, the San Antonio Express-News said.
Of the Davis tragedy, Tiffany Hartley told the AP, “I don’t know them but my heart breaks for them. I put myself in (the husband’s) shoes, because I was there almost four months ago. I know what he’s going through. He just lost his best friend.”
According to the AP, the area where the shooting incident occurred is one of the most dangerous parts in Mexico, because it is heavily controlled by the Zetas drug cartel. In the same area, some 72 South and Central American migrants were massacred in August, an incident which is also blamed on the Zetas.
According to the AP the Davises live in the lower Rio Grande Valley in South Texas. Across the Rio Grande river in Mexico’s Reynosa city in Tamaulipas state, the area is fraught with violence from rival drug cartels who seek control of a lucrative smuggling trade, Reuters said.
Missionary work
The Davises are founders of the Methodist Gospel Proclaimers Missionary Association in Weslaco. They kept a house in Linares, Nuevo Leon where they spent up to 90 percent of their time, the San Antonio Express News said.
Much of the time, the Davises were church planting along Monterrey, where they kept a house and spent 90 percent of their time in Mexico, planting churches, teaching and engaging in evangelism, San Antonio Express-News reported.
Nancy, an Ohio native, fell in love with missionary work in Mexico and Texas. They regularly traveled to Union Bible College in Indiana to talk about their missionary work, the San Antonio Express-News said.
The Mexican Interior Ministry, in a statement condoled with Davis over the loss of his wife and said investigation is ongoing. U.S. Embassy spokesman Alexander Featherstone told the AP, “We want to convey our condolences to the family,” and said they are seeking contact with Mexican authorities.
Dangerous investigations
These types of investigations can be dangerous. Months before, David Hartley was killed prompting Texas Gov. Rick Perry to urge Mexican authorities to respond more strongly. Hartley’s body was never recovered, and the policeman investigating the case was killed and his decapitated head was delivered in a suitcase, the AP said.
In the migrant massacre, the state detective of Tamaulipas and the local police chief who played a part in the initial investigation was killed, the AP said.
Sources:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/7400085.html
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7399974.html
