Two Arizona women were slain when assailants opened fire on their vehicle in Sonora, northern Mexico, on Friday morning, according to Mexican authorities.
The victims, ages 72 and 82, were discovered dead in an overturned, bullet-ridden white Nissan Pathfinder on the Sonoyta-Caborca highway at 10:30 a.m., according to a news release from the Sonora attorney general’s office.
Mexican authorities conducted a search and found a stolen Ford F150, believed to be associated with the accused, abandoned in the Sonoran town of Quitovac. The attorney general’s office reported that officers discovered four weapons, dozens of ammo cartridges, and bulletproof vests in the vehicle.
Officials did not immediately identify a motive for the attack, despite the fact that Sonora has had multiple cases of cartel violence in recent years.
In June 2023, a Ph.D. student from California was discovered dead in an SUV in Sonora, shot seven times, after going missing while driving across the border to undertake horticultural research.
In March, prosecutors in Sonora reported the discovery of seven bodies near Puerto Peñasco on the Gulf of California. All the victims, dressed in military garb, were male and had sustained gunshot wounds.
