At Least 9 Members of American Mormon Family Killed in Mexico, Family Says

Family members say that at least nine U.S. citizens, including six children, who live in a Mormon community in northern Mexico were killed Monday in a hail of gunfire. The family said they suspect it may have been a case of mistaken identity by drug cartel gunmen.

The FBI has opened an investigation into the killings, family members told CBS This Morning. It happened near the town of Bavispe, about 100 miles south of the Arizona border. The victims all left their community at the time in three separate cars; some were traveling back to the U.S., some to a neighboring town for a wedding.

But suddenly, gunfire sprayed the convoy of SUVs. There were so many rounds that family members said one of the cars exploded.

The victims belonged to the LeBaron family from the La Mora settlement, a community in Sonora state founded decades ago as part of an offshoot of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Many of those in the vehicles were initially reported missing after the attack.

Mexico’s federal Department of Security and Citizens’ Protection said security forces were reinforced with National Guard, army and state police troops in the area following “the reports about disappearance and aggression against several people” and that the troops were searching for the missing community members, CBS News reports.

One relative said he located one of the burned-out, bullet-ridden SUVs containing the remains of his nephew’s wife and her four children: twin 7-month-old babies and two older children aged 8 and 10.

Jhon LeBaron, one of the relatives, posted on his Facebook page that his aunt and another woman were dead, and that six of his aunt’s children had been left abandoned but alive on a roadside. He wrote late Monday that a total of 17 of his family members were in the convoy when it came under attack. He said nine were killed, six wounded and two left unharmed.

Another relative, Julian LeBaron, identified one of the slain adults on his Facebook page as Rhonita Maria LeBaron. Jhon identified her as Maria Ronita LeBaron. She was apparently killed along with her twin 7-month-old babies and two of her other seven children.

The first relative said that the convoy was attacked by cartel gunmen in a possible case of mistaken identity. Many of the church’s members were born in Mexico and thus have dual citizenship.

Reuters reports that a video posted on social media showed the charred and smoking remains of a vehicle riddled with bullet holes that was apparently carrying the victims when the attack happened.

Trish Cloes, who is the aunt of victim Dawna Ray Langford, said the family was devastated and emotional and that all they could do was “start thinking positive and praying” when they heard about the tragedy.

“It’s something that you can’t explain, that there are evil people in this world that could do such a thing like that,” she said, adding that she wanted to remember her relatives as “amazing, family-oriented people. They are loving, they are giving… they’re always looking out for others.”