Thread: American Missionary Dead After Shooting in Mexico

American Missionary Dead After Shooting in Mexico

Reported by: Polo Sandoval
Reported by: Will Ripley
Last Update: 5:40 pm

PHARR - An American missionary is dead after she and her husband came under attack south of the border near Reynosa.

Pharr police Chief Ruben Villescas says the husband and wife came under fire in Mexico. The husband rushed his wife to the Pharr International Bridge. She'd been shot in the head.

Sam and Nancy Davis were traveling in a Chevy pickup on the highway between Reynosa and San Fernando on Wednesday afternoon. Intelligence sources tell us they tried driving through a cartel roadblock. That's when gunmen opened fire.

Investigators say preliminary details show the couple was chased into Reynosa where more shots were fired. Significant damage could be seen on the rear of the truck. We don't what caused that damage. We also saw what appeared to be blood smears on the passenger side of the pickup as it was processed by Pharr investigators.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS has confirmed the Mexican military is now involved in the investigation. Mexican soldiers are telling us there was a shootout in Reynosa on Wednesday afternoon.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS has found out that the couple has been living in Mexico for quite some time. Several of Sam and Nancy Davis' closest friends tell us they've been living in Mexico since the mid-’70s.

We understand they're part of a non-denominational organization of missionaries known as the Gospel Proclaimers.

According to several religious websites, Nancy Davis served in Mexico for more than 35 years. As one of her friends put it, she gave her life for her people.

We understand from one close friend Davis' funeral could be held in Texas; however, her husband has not made any official statements to the media.

Nancy Davis was 59. Her friends and fellow missionaries are asking everyone to pray for the family, especially her widowed husband Sam.

http://www.krgv.com/news/local/story/Am ... 5guzg.cspx

posted earlier:

http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-226124.html

Word Spreads on Twitter About Missionary’s Death

Reported by: Farrah Fazal
Last Update: 7:15 pm

Word of Nancy Davis' death started spreading on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon.

The tweets came from people who knew the Davises and many who didn't.

This is one of the first tweets we saw.

Mr. Frausto says, "Immediate prayer request for bro Sam & sis Nancy Davis, missionaries to Mexico. She's been shot by a drug cartel. Sam's trying 2 outrun them."

An hour later, we saw this tweet from Nancy Davis' church in Beavertown, Pa. It said, “Missionary Nancy Davis has gone to heaven as a martyr this afternoon, after 38 years of missionary service she paid the ultimate sacrifice."

An hour after that, somebody from the church again tweeted this, "Missionary Nancy Davis: long time missionary Nancy Davis has gone to heaven. Serving in that country for over 3 decades."

People who didn't know the couple started offering their condolences and praying for Davis' husband.

The Union Bbible College tweeted this. "Sadly, we have received word that she has passed away. Please pray for the family."

We asked Mary Anne Wheeler if the couple ever worried about becoming victims of the violence. Wheeler said they had other run-ins with cartel members. They were afraid but not afraid enough to stop their mission.

http://www.krgv.com/news/local/story/Wo ... dtPOg.cspx

U.S. missionary slain while fleeing Mexico gunmen
By JASON BUCH
San Antonio Express-News
Jan. 27, 2011, 11:41AM

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Handout photo
Nancy Davis and her husband founded the Methodist Gospel Proclaimers Missionary Association.

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Update: The Associated Press reports that Texas authorities say a U.S. missionary fatally shot in the head in Mexico and driven to the border by her husband may have been targeted because of the couple’s expensive pickup truck.

Pharr police chief Ruben Villescas said Thursday that pickup trucks such as the 2008 Chevrolet driven by Nancy and Sam Davis are coveted by criminal organizations in Mexico.

Villescas says damage to the couple’s truck suggests that another vehicle tried to run them off the road. He says Nancy Davis was struck in the head by a bullet fired through their pickup’s back window.

Nancy Davis was pronounced dead at Texas hospital on Wednesday. Police say Sam Davis told officers they were attacked about 70 miles south of the U.S. border.


• • •
A U.S. missionary died on Wednesday after she was shot while fleeing gunmen on a Mexican highway.

Nancy Davis, 59, and her husband, Sam, were driving on the highway from Monterrey to Reynosa, about 70 miles from the border, when gunmen in a pickup tried to force them to pull over, according to Pharr police.

The couple tried to flee, but their pursuers opened fire and a bullet struck Davis in the head.

Her husband rushed her to the international bridge at Pharr and, while stuck in traffic, began calling police and customs officers for help, according to a news release from Pharr police.

Shortly after noon, an ambulance rushed Davis to a hospital in McAllen, where she was pronounced dead.

This is the second incident in recent months of Americans falling victim to Mexico's ongoing violence. In October, a U.S. couple riding personal watercraft on Falcon Lake were fired on by three boatloads of gunmen presumed to be Mexican drug operatives, fatally striking David Hartley in the head and chasing his frantic wife, Tiffany, into U.S. waters.

The Davises founded the Methodist Gospel Proclaimers Missionary Association in Weslaco and kept a house there. A friend said they spent most of their time in Mexico.

Nancy Davis was from Ohio but had fallen in love with missionary work in Texas and Mexico, said Merton Rundell III, director of finance at Union Bible College in Indiana and a friend of the couple. The Davises regularly traveled to the college to speak about their missionary work.

"She was 150 percent involved in the mission work," Rundell said. "They were a team, a dedicated team."

Most of their time was spent establishing churches in areas south of Monterrey, Rundell said. He estimated they spent 80 percent to 90 percent of their time in Mexico.

"They did some teaching, did some evangelistic work," Rundell said. "But most of their labors were directly involved in establishing churches in different parts of Mexico."

The area of northern Mexico where the Davises worked and traveled has become increasingly dangerous in the past year. The states of Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas, which borders Texas from Laredo to Brownsville, are the site of a bloody cartel war. The highway from Monterrey to Reynosa is considered dangerous, with shootouts and road blocks routinely reported.

In September, the U.S. State Department warned citizens against traveling between Monterrey and Tamaulipas and removed the children of consular staff from Monterrey.

Pharr police said they have been in contact with Mexican authorities and are working with federal agencies and the Texas Department of Public Safety to investigate Davis' killing.

jbuch@express-news.net

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 99974.html