Missing Americans in Mexico: Two US Veterans Disappear Near Border; Cartels to Blame?
Two U.S. Army veterans are missing after having gone into the Mexican border town of Matamoros to visit their grandmother.
Ernesto Garcia, who served in Iraq, and his brother, Jesus Garcia, who served in Afghanistan, were last heard from in the early morning of Monday, Feb. 2.
The two brothers left from Brownsville, Texas, on Jan. 31 and had planned to return home around 2 a.m. Monday morning.
The family of the missing men told KRGV, the ABC affiliate in the Rio Grande Valley, the brothers made this trip often, every few months going into Mexico to visit their family in Matamoros and check-in on their grandmother.
This trip was different from previous ones as the brothers decided to drive back to the U.S. in the middle of the night instead of the daytime.
Ernesto Garcia’s wife said she got a message from her husband at 1:30 a.m. Monday morning that said, “Hi,” and her teenage son received two messages from his father that read, “Hello my son. I love you.”
This was the last anyone has heard from the brothers, and all attempts to contact them on their phones have failed.
The unnamed wife said, “I'm hurt. I'm mad. My children are asking for him all the time. I don't know what to tell them. I just want my husband back.”
The distraught woman said, "It's a lot of mental anguish. I just want him to be back with us. That's the only thing I want. … We need to fight and work to get them home. They are two ex-soldiers that fought for a country and freedom for many years. My husband served 16 years.”
The city of Matamoros has been facing intense drug cartel-related violence in recent days.
On Wednesday, as reported by Fox News, the U.S. Consulate located there issued an advisory warning of the increased violence between the Matamoros and Reynosa factions of the Gulf Cartel.
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