Thread: Zapata residents worry town will be tainted by Hartley case

Zapata residents worry town will be tainted by Hartley case

October 17, 2010 2:30 AM
Ana Ley, The Monitor

ZAPATA — Officials in this tiny community expect to lose millions of dollars in revenue to a whirlwind of negative publicity surrounding the apparent death of a U.S. citizen on Falcon
Reservoir.

Zapata — a hamlet with a population of 5,000 — is a popular spot for bass fishing enthusiasts. The sleepy lakeside community thrives on tourism, attracting thousands of Winter Texans and visitors from across the state each year.

But a media blitz that followed the Sept. 30 disappearance of David Michael Hartley is destroying the town’s reputation and threatening its economic mainstay, said Paco Mendoza, CEO and president of the Zapata County Chamber of Commerce.

"In the media, this is portrayed as a violent place," Mendoza said. "People who are from here are upset at how it is going to affect us."



‘SHE KNEW THE RISKS’

Hartley, 30, is widely presumed dead after what his wife, Tiffany Young-Hartley, has described as an attack by cartel "pirates" Sept. 30 on the Mexican side of Falcon Reservoir, a sprawling waterway that spans the country’s border with the U.S. She says three boats of gunmen opened fire on them as the couple were riding personal watercraft, fatally shooting her husband in the head.

Since then, Young-Hartley, 29, has appeared on all the major TV networks and cable news outlets, presenting a harrowing account of being forced to flee for her life to the U.S. shore of the lake after she tried in vain to get her husband’s limp body onto her SeaDoo watercraft.

Mexican officials later questioned her version of events, saying they had found no evidence of the purported attack or Hartley’s remains.

"I know my story is true," Young-Hartley told The Monitor. "I think everybody else is standing behind me."

But Mendoza said "the majority of people" in Zapata question her story, saying there are unexplained holes in an account that seems to change each time she is questioned. He also said the Hartleys should have understood the risks associated with crossing into Mexican waters.

"If you know how dangerous it is, why go there?" Mendoza said. "We feel for the Hartley family. But she knew the risks, and they decided to cross. There’s no reason anyone should go over there."

Mendoza said the community resents local media for portraying Zapata as a dangerous place, and he scoffed at the term "pirates" used in news reports about the case.

"It’s just ridiculous," he said. "It’s something you would hear in a movie. But the media likes to spread the negative."

Last week, the severed head of a Mexican investigator involved in the case was delivered to the Mexican army. News of the beheading buzzed throughout the tiny town. The monitor of an unattended computer at the front desk of the chamber of commerce had a window open to an online dictionary. Someone had looked up the word "behead."

"People are scared," Mendoza said, recalling similar attacks in recent years that hurt the town’s economy. "But eventually this will mellow out."

On Tuesday, Terry Green stood in front of her mobile home as she watched the sun set behind a U.S. Border Patrol mobile home positioned along the lake’s shore. She said she was out on the lake with her husband when the shooting is said to have happened. She didn’t hear any gunshots.

"You don’t live in Mexico for years and not make any contacts," Terry Green said, referring to the time the Hartleys spent in Reynosa, where David Hartley served as a station manager for Calfrac Well Services Ltd., an oil field services firm. "His body was big. (Young-Hartley) said she tried to bring him back. … She would have gotten shot. Everybody has suspicions out here."

Meanwhile, a forensics team is analyzing the life vest worn by Young-Hartley, which has a spot of human blood. The blood evidence could lend credence to Young-Hartley’s account. Or the test results could raise more questions about what happened to her husband.



‘SAFEST LAKE IN THE NATION’

Zapata suffered another economic blow after losing four fishing tournament contracts, including two big money-makers hosted by FLW Outdoors, the sanctioning organization for a series of sports fishing tournament tours.

"This is the safest lake in the nation," said Tom Bendele, who owns a bait and tackle shop along Falcon Reservoir. "But there’s this fear of things."

Bendele said he hopes a recent throng of law enforcement officials on the lake will put apprehensive visitors at ease, but he doubted many would visit after seeing national news reports about the Hartley case. Falcon Reservoir is regularly monitored by local, state and federal law enforcement.

Tourists like Foy Green, a Houston man who frequently visits Zapata with his wife, said they’re being more cautious and staying in U.S. waters when they venture out onto the lake.

"All my friends in Houston," he said, "they tell me: ‘What are you doing down there? You’re crazy.’"

http://www.themonitor.com/articles/zapa ... -town.html

He also said the Hartleys should have understood the risks associated with crossing into Mexican waters.

But you want hundreds of OTHER fishermen to ignore the risks and come spend their money in your town? That is the most assinine statement yet!