MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Two elderly women from Arizona were shot dead in their car along a highway in Mexico’s northern Sonora state, local prosecutors said on Friday, adding that they had launched an immediate operation to find the killers.
According to state prosecutors, the women, whose last names were withheld but who are identified as Enedina, 72, and Ubaldina, 82, were found inside a white Nissan Pathfinder that had overturned on the side of the highway. The incident was reported at 10:30 a.m.
A local security source told Reuters the women were dual US and Mexican nationals.
The stretch of highway where the women were found, which runs from the town of Sonoyta near the Arizona border to the city of Caborca, is notorious for human trafficking and violence as migrants seek better opportunities and safety in the United States.
The two women were originally from Caborca, prosecutors said in a statement.
According to prosecutors, National Guard and Army officers who responded to the incident found a dark blue Ford (NYSE:) F-150 that had been reported stolen nearby, as well as an AK-47 and ammunition.
“Security forces from the three levels of government, supported by specialized air and ground forces, immediately launched an operation to locate and arrest the perpetrators,” the Sonora state prosecutor’s office said.
