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CNN
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A California couple visiting Mexico for the holidays was shot and killed on Wednesday in the state of Michoacan, according to local authorities.
The couple had arrived in Michoacan, a state along the country’s Pacific coast, on November 30, she said, and were found shot inside a vehicle on Wednesday night in the Angamacutiro municipality.
The wife died inside the bullet-pierced vehicle and the husband in a nearby hospital, Guzman also told CNN.
Investigators began probing the incident “as soon as it was reported,” but there is currently no indication of who shot the couple, she said, adding that her office would be in touch with US authorities.
Guzman said the man was born in the US, had relatives in Michoacan and was related to the town’s mayor. His wife was born in Mexico but also had US citizenship, she said.
“Their families are working with local authorities,” Guzman added.
In a statement sent to CNN, a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the death of both US citizens and offered their “sincerest condolences to their families for their loss.”
“We are closely monitoring local authorities’ investigation into the reported killings,” the spokesperson said.
Michoacan has been long affected by gang violence, with cartels moving into the state in the 1980s. Its homicide rate today is more than twice the country’s average. Nationally, Mexico’s homicide rate is among the highest in the world.
The state is also Mexico’s largest grower of avocados – a market long troubled by violent groups and corrupt public authorities, researchers at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime said in a report this year. Nearly three-quarters of Mexican avocados come from Michoacán.
Gangs such as the Zetas and Familia Michoacana were formed in the state, which has become home to drug production and drug traffickers who target local farmers to cultivate marijuana and other drugs, according to a report from Insight Crime.
More than 100,000 people remain missing in the country, with no explanation of their fate. According to think tank Mexico Evalua, around 95% of all crimes nationwide went unsolved in the country in 2022.
