julieturkewitzVerified account

... that they been warned by criminal groups to “stay off” the road between at night, a command they had complied with. The attack happened Monday morning.

The women, in three cars, were traveling Monday morning from La Mora, in the state of Sonora, to Colonia LeBarón in the state of Chihuahua, a four-hour drive partly along a dirt road through the mountains, relatives said. They knew the route well.

At one point, one of the cars broke down, a cousin told us, and the gunmen “opened fire on Rhonita and torched her car.” Rhonita Miller, who was driving, was killed, along with an 11-year-old boy, a 9-year-old girl and her twins.

Rhonita had just turned 30 a few days ago, her father told me.

The children caught in the attack on a Mormon community in northern Mexico were suddenly alone. Several hid by the roadside. One boy, about 12, hiked miles to La Mora to tell family what had happened. The boy’s sister, about 9, was injured and set out on her own. She became lost.