The head of a Mormon family whose daughter, four grandchildren and four others were executed in central Mexico last year revealed he was recently stopped on a road by a gang of armed men who interrogated him before he was let go.
Adrián LeBarón took to Twitter on Monday to share the frightening moment a group of men, each of whom he described to be younger than 30-years-old, ordered him to stop while he was driving in Agua Prieta, Sonora.
The site where he was stopped is roughtly 100 miles where his daughter, grandchildren and another Mormon family with dual U.S.-Mexican citizenship were massacred.
‘I was intercepted by criminal groups when traveling with my family in recent days. A van with armed youth, who were no more than 30-years-old, blocked our way in Agua Prieta, Sonora,’ LeBarón wrote on the social media platform. ‘They asked us for all our data. They were going to decide if we could go on.
‘We were intercepted in broad daylight, [they are] operating less and less in secret. They were clearly members of organized crime. According to inhabitants, these operations are intensified when they bring problems with rivals.’
Adrián LeBarón, whose daughter and four grandchildren were among the nine U.S.-Mexico dual citizens killed by a cartel gang in Mexico in November 2019, revealed on Twitter on Monday that a group of armed men recently intercepted him and his family on a road in the northern state of Sonora before they allowed them to continue their trip
Rhonita María Miller was driving her car with her four children when they were shot and burned inside their vehicle near the Sonora, Mexico, town of La Mora in November 2019
Members of the LeBarón family observe one of the vehicles where members of the Mormon family were traveling
The incident took place about 100 miles from the Sonora village of La Mora, where his daughter Rhonita María Miller, 30, and children – her eight-month-old twins, Titus and Tiana; 10-year-old daughter Krystal; and 12-year-old son Howard – were burned and shot dead while they were inside their car November 4, 2019.
LeBarón found the bones of Krystal, who had been so frightened she knelt into the fetal position before she was shot dead. Howard, Titus and Tiana were likely burned alive.
The gunmen also executed Christina Maria Langford, 29, who before dying saved her seven-month-old daughter, Faith, by placing her on the floor of her vehicle.
Langford reportedly jumped out of her vehicle in an attempt to get the gunmen to stop, but she was shot in the chest.
The assassins also killed Dawna Langford, 43, and two children, 11-year-old Trevor and two-year-old Rogan, while eight other children inside the vehicle were able to hide until it was safe.
The surviving children, five of whom were injured, hid in nearby brush before walking nine miles back to their community to get help.
Preliminary reports indicated that the ambush took place hours after a criminal organization known as La Línea had been involved in a gun battle with another rival group.
Pictured: Rhonita María (far left), 10-year-old Krystal (left), 12-year-old Howard (center), Howard (right) and babies Titus and Tiana
Adrián LeBarón revealed on his Twitter account Monday that he and his family were stopped by gang of armed men recently in Sonora, Mexico
Pictured: The three mothers and six young children who were savagely murdered by Mexican drug cartel gunman on November 4, 2019
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador met with the family following the roadside massacre and promised that swift measures would be taken and welcomed the assistance of FBI investigators. Authorities would identity at least 40 people connect to the killings and arrested 10 after the tragedy struck the Mormon communities in northern Mexico
LeBarón wrote that he and his family were at the mercy of the gunmen – it’s unknown which criminal syndicate they belonged to – before they were allowed to continue to their destination.
‘These groups are operating without restrictions, imposing their own laws. Part of the family is frequently detained and searched in illegal checkpoints,’ LeBarón said. ‘The roads where my family was killed are still controlled by criminal groups. They have not changed.
‘Criminals circulating in broad daylight, checking and authorizing, under what circumstances should residents be living, or those who use this road to travel to border points? How far [does] the complicity of the authorities [stretch]?’