Good For Governor Perry!

[DawnCt1]

AUSTIN, TEXAS — Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Wednesday he has asked Mexico's president to call him in the next 48 hours to say that the body of an American reportedly shot to death on a border lake has been recovered.

"If not, we're not looking hard enough," Perry told The Associated Press.

Tiffany Hartley of Milliken, Colo., says her husband, David, was shot by Mexican pirates on Falcon Lake last week as they were returning to the United States on Jet Skis. Falcon Lake is a dammed section of the Rio Grande that has been plagued by pirates who rob boaters and fisherman who wander into Mexican waters. Hartley's death would be the first killing on the lake.

The Hartley family has complained that Mexican authorities are not doing enough to find David Hartley's body. Tiffany Hartley has said that her husband was shot in the head by three men chasing them in speedboats and that he fell off his Jet Ski and into the lake. His body has not been recovered.

Perry said Mexico needs to use every resource available to find the body and have it returned to U.S. soil.

"I hope that if (Mexican President Felipe Calderon) calls me within the next 48 hours, that the body has been retrieved," Perry said.

Officials in Mexico's Tamaulipas state, where the shooting occurred, have cast doubt on Hartley's story, telling the McAllen Monitor that no one near the lake reported hearing gunshots or the sounds of a Jet Ski engine.

The district attorney there, Marco Antonio Guerrero Carrixales, also told the paper that authorities "are not certain that incident happened the way that they are telling us."

Mexican authorities have not responded to requests for comment from the AP.

Perry said the couple was sightseeing in Mexico.

"I find it really reprehensible for anyone, U.S. or Mexican, to speak otherwise," he said.

Perry used the incident to renew his demand that the federal government do more to secure the U.S.-Mexico border as northern Mexico sinks deeper into drug-gang violence. The violence has spread in the last few months from Ciudad Juarez, the epicenter of Mexico's drug war across from El Paso, Texas, to the Mexican side of the Rio Grande Valley, including Tamaulipas state where Hartley reportedly disappeared. Two drug gangs, the Gulf Cartel and the Zetas, are battling for supremacy there and fighting the Mexican military.

"Frankly, these two presidents (Calderon and President Barack Obama) need to get together with their secretaries of state and say, 'What are we going to do about this?'"

Perry also said he spoke Tuesday to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's chief of staff and once again made his request for an additional 1,000 National Guard troops on the Texas-Mexico border, a request that has been repeatedly denied.

U.S. authorities are unable to investigate Hartley's disappearance because it happened in Mexico.

"How many more American citizens have to die?" Perry said.

___

http://www.statesman.com/news/texas/apnewsbreak-perry-seeks-calderon-help-in-probe-955026.html

 

[Planogirl]

I won't comment on Perry but I agree that this was the right thing to do. Not that the Mexican authorities will necessarily listen.

 

[DawnCt1]

I'll just say that in the case of Perry even a broken clock is set on the right time twice a day but I agree that this was the right thing to do. Not that the Mexican authorities will necessarily listen.

I am certainly glad that Governor Perry did it. Someone had to do it. The request should have come from the State Dept. on DAY 1.

 

[Planogirl]

Oops, you caught me.

If the Mexican authorities doubt the story then they will be less inclined to mount much of a search. They are very corrupt anyway and I can't see them caring much about what Perry says. They really do their own thing from everything we hear and it's very frustrating.

 

[DawnCt1]

Oops, you caught me.

If the Mexican authorities doubt the story then they will be less inclined to mount much of a search. They are very corrupt anyway and I can't see them caring much about what Perry says. They really do their own thing from everything we hear and it's very frustrating.

I hear ya!

 

[missypie]

I really can't stand Perry....BUT I agree that the border violence is a huge issue facing Texas. Bill White should be talking about that in his campaign ads, too, instead of complaining about Perry's "fancy mansion."

 

[VickiVM]

...election time...

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

And we know the wife didn't do this, how?

Convenient way to get rid of someone... just sayin'.

 

[VickiVM]

We don't know - but without a body we can't make assumptions either way. There's a whole other thread addressing all the odd details of this event, including the fact that as incredible this appears - politics and history of this region of Texas plays a big role.

 

[Glenn]

If the Mexican authorities dont believe the wife I would think they would want to find the body to prove their point. Are they even looking? One of the late night news shows claimed that there is now a witness to the event. If Mexico can't be bothered maybe it's another reason to vacation some where else.

 

[okeydokey]

There has been a lot of speculation that the wife is making the whole thing up so conceivably they could try real hard to look for a body and they would never find one.

 

[DawnCt1]

And we know the wife didn't do this, how?

Convenient way to get rid of someone... just sayin'.

And you know Mexican pirate didn't do it HOW?

 

[dennis99ss]

to bad Perry was a day late and a dollar short.

Perry does nothing on an immediate basis. He waits to see where the wind is blowing, and then goes with it. He is never the force behind the wind.

I am glad he spoke up, but, don't you think he could have been outspoken immediately instead of waiting days go by.

Second, while the wife's story seems odd, and it may be made up, having been in S. Tx and in the area, I see where her story is totally believeable

 

[cm8]

Oops, you caught me.

If the Mexican authorities doubt the story then they will be less inclined to mount much of a search. They are very corrupt anyway and I can't see them caring much about what Perry says. They really do their own thing from everything we hear and it's very frustrating.

And we know the wife didn't do this, how?

Convenient way to get rid of someone... just sayin'.

cause she told us ? It is very convenient though!

 

[DawnCt1]

cause she told us ? It is very convenient though!

I heard on the news tonight that searches have been hampered by threats from the Mexican drug cartels but of course it "must be the wife".

 

[Boston Tea Party]

I really can't stand Perry....BUT I agree that the border violence is a huge issue facing Texas. Bill White should be talking about that in his campaign ads, too, instead of complaining about Perry's "fancy mansion."