Officials revealed that the family of missing Colorado man David Hartley held a secret meeting with Mexican police at the Roma International Bridge.
Hartley has been missing since last week when he and his wife Tiffany Young-Hartley went jet skiing on Falcon Lake near the flooded ruins of Guerrero Viejo when they were attacked by pirates last Thursday.
The 30-year-old Colorado man was allegedly shot in the back of the head but Tiffany Young-Hartley said she managed to escape to escape on her jet ski.
Her version of events has been met by skepticism on both sides of the border but the Rio Grande Valley's three congressmen and local law enforcement officials said in a Thursday afternoon press conference in Zapata that they stand behind her.
Mexican officials are searching their side of Falcon Lake for Hartley's body but police south of the border said that neither Tiffany Young-Hartley nor anybody from David Hartley's family has come forward to officially report him as missing.
Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar said during the press conference that has changed.
Cuellar revealed that members of the Hartley family met with two commanders from Tamaulipas State Police at the Roma International Bridge on Wednesday night.
Investigators did not reveal what was discussed at the Roma bridge but Mexican authorities are contintuing their search for David Hartley's body under threats from drug traffickers.
Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez said during the press conference that investigators are sticking behind Tiffany Young-Hartley.
They said her version of events is supported by blood stains on her life jacket and a witness whose identity is being protected.
Sheriff Gonzalez the men who attacked the couple may have taken both Hartley's body and his jet ski.
U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar said the American government has been in high-level discussions with the Mexican government regarding the case.
He said the incident underscores the need for more border security funding as well as the approval of the bill to allow the U.S. Coast Guard to patrol Falcon Lake and other bodies of water along the border.
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