A Mexican law enforcement official involved in the search for missing American man David Hartley has been killed.
The Tamaulipas Attorney General's Office confirmed the death of Tamaulipas State Police Commander Rolando Armando Flores Villegas.
Flores-Villegas worked as the chief of investigations for Tamaulipas State Police in Miguel Aleman, a border town across the Rio Grande from Roma.
Tamaulipas Attorney General's Office Spokesman Ruben Dario-Rios said Flores-Villegas was killed in the line of duty but not in connection with the David Hartley case.
Dario-Rios said the commander was killed due to another case he was investigating but said he could not provide specifics about that case.
There have been no arrests and no suspects have been identified in the commander's death but Dario-Rios said the case is under investigation.
Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez said his office confirmed the commander's death with law enforcement officials on the Mexican side of the border.
Sheriff Gonzalez said Flores-Villegas had been decapitated and that his head had been left in a suitcase in front of a Mexican army post in Miguel Aleman on Tuesday morning.
“This is very, very disturbing,” Gonzalez said.
Ongoing Search
Mexican authorities have been searching on their side of Falcon Lake for Hartley’s body over the past 12 days.
Hartley’s wife Tiffany Hartley told authorities she and David were ambushed while they were on jet skis near the flooded ruins of Guerrero Viejo.
Tiffany Hartley said her husband was shot in the head but she managed to return safely to the American side of the lake.
Mexican search crews have came under fire by drug traffickers along the lake, which is a well-known smuggling area.
Tamaulipas State Police told Action 4 News that many of their men were in the Guerrero area as part of the search effort on Tuesday.
Rolando Flores Villegas
The Tamaulipas Attorney General's Office reported that Flores-Villegas was a veteran law enforcement official.
Commander Flores was part of a team looking Mexican side into for the body of David Hartley.
Sheriff Gonzalez said all the members of the Mexican search parties all made it home on Monday night except for Flores-Villegas.
Gonzalez said his office first learned about the incident through the Webb County Sheriff's Office but confirmed Flores-Villegas' death with Mexican law enforcement officials.
Flores-Villegas initially told reporters that he had doubts about Tiffany Hartley’s version of events but his office later named two men as suspects in the case.
Tamaulipas State Police had named Juan Pedro Saldivar-Farias and Jose Manuel Saldivar-Farias as suspects in the case over the weekend.
The two men went by the nicknames "El 27" and "El 31" and are also accused in numerous other crimes ranging from arson and robbery to murder.
Both men remain at large.
Sheriff's Reaction
Sheriff Gonzalez said the death Commander Flores-Villegas only further complicates the Hartley case.
Gonzalez said the Border Patrol, Coast Guard and Texas Parks & Wildlife game wardens are out in full force searching and patrolling the American side of the lake.
But Gonzalez said the chances of finding David Hartley's body are getting smaller with each passing day.
"The possibility is getting slimmer and slimmer," he said.
Gonzalez emphasized that Flores-Villegas was killed on the Mexican side of the lake but feels it's still safe for American investigators on the Texas side.
"I'm hoping they don't try anything on the United States side," Gonzalez said. "There will be consequences. They know better."
Rafael Carranza contributed to this report.
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