An American couple were shot and killed Wednesday while visiting family in Michoacán, Mexico, CNN has reported.
Gloria Ambriz, 50, and Rafael Cardona, 53, of Northern California were shot while sitting in a Ford pickup truck with license plates from the state of Querétaro. Ambriz was pronounced dead at the scene. Cardona was taken to a local hospital, where he later died.
The coupled lived in the U.S. but owned a house in Angamacutiro where the mayor, Hermes Pacheco is married to Cardona's sister. Authorities said that ballistic evidence was uncovered at the scene and that the victims' bodies have been handed over to their relatives for burial.
Investigators were on the scene "as soon as it was reported," Magdalena Guzman, a spokesperson for the Michoacan Prosecutor's Office told CNN adding, "We are closely monitoring local authorities' investigation into the reported killings."
Michoacan has been long affected by gang violence, with cartels moving into the state in the 1980s. Its homicide rate today is more than twice the country's average while Mexico's own homicide rate is among the highest in the world. According to think tank Mexico Evalua, close to 95% of all crimes went unsolved in the country in 2022.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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