Wife Confident Husband's Body Will Be Found In Border Waters

Tiffany Hartley Speaks About Pirate Ambush After Returning To Colorado
By Tyler Lopez, 7NEWS Reporter

POSTED: 8:43 pm MDT October 23, 2010
UPDATED: 9:21 pm MDT October 23, 2010

WELD COUNTY, Colo. -- Shivering from the light, high-altitude breezes, Tiffany Hartley jumped out of an SUV Saturday to again speak with the media about what happened to her husband David.

"You know, (for) so long we've focused on what's going on internationally, across the ocean, we need to focus on what's in our backyard," Hartley said.

Hartley said she and her husband were jet skiing Sept. 30 when Mexican drug cartel pirates shot David in the back of the head.


The pirates then turned to Tiffany Hartley.

"It was kind of one of those looks of, 'What do we do with her?'" Hartley said.

She said the next moment, she was pushing her jet ski to the limit, passing three boats of pirates, hanging her body to the far side of them as they fired at her.

"The whole way over there I was just screaming, 'How could I just leave him?'" Hartley said.

Hartley explained she patiently answered 16 hours of questions from Mexican investigators who came from Mexico City to meet with her in Texas, a rarity, she was told.

"And I think the only reason they did is A, I was not going over there. And B, (because) of the publicity they've had," said Hartley, adding she just felt it was time to leave that area. "But no, I don't live in fear for my life. David and I didn't live in fear. And that's how I am living."

At the first meeting, she was skeptical that officials believed her and had doubts of her own that Mexican and American investigators were doing enough to solve the crime.

Hartley said she now believes she has the support of her countrymen.

"They can only do what they can do. And so now we're at the mercy of Mexico," Hartley said.

Her mother told TheDenverChannel Tiffany Hartley "is the voice for America" to realize "this is happening in our backyard, not in Iraq or Afghanistan."

Hartley said she's looking forward to relaxing on her family's 20-acre Weld County ranch, but will do television talk show appearances to keep the story alive.

"Being here in Colorado, you guys are, you're going to be my way to get my voice out," Hartley said.

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