Two Texas hunters were kidnapped by members of a Mexican cartel following a deadly shootout this weekend.
At least 21 people were killed in a shootout between a cartel and Mexican law enforcement after the gang descended on the border town of Villa Union and opened fire. Authorities said at least four police officers were killed and at least 17 members of the Cartel of the Northeast died in the shootout.
The two American hunters, Donald Chapman, 62, and his nephew, Colby Williams, 30, were in Mexico for a hunting trip on a 10,000-acre ranch when two gang members appeared suddenly and ordered them to get down. The sicarios took the men’s rifles and cellphones but assured them they “don’t hurt Americans.”
Though the cartel members kept their weapons trained on the hunters, both men reported that they were not harmed. “They were nice to me, and to be honest with you, did not hurt us in any way,” said Williams of the experience.
The men gave their captors food and water and claimed that they were simply lost and needed to get back home. “They used us to get where they wanted to be, which was home and their families,” Chapman said. “Every other word out of their mouth was, ‘No problem. You’ll be OK. We don’t hurt Americans.'”
The ordeal took 11 hours during which the cartel members even washed Williams’ truck. “It seems wild, but they washed our vehicles and put fuel in them,” he said. Both men vowed not to return to Mexico for another hunting trip.
