David Hartley's Family Begs Obama, Clinton for Help
In media appearances on several network news shows this morning, a Texas family begged for help from President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in recovering the body of family member David Hartley, a 30-year-old American who was killed recently in an incident allegedly involving Mexican pirates.
David Hartley's wife Tiffany, 29, says her husband was shot in the head on Texas's Lake Falcon, which straddles the U.S.-Mexican border. Tiffany Hartley said the couple was assaulted by three boats of armed teenage pirates as they made their ways back to the U.S. border on jet ski.
Hartley's family says little has been done to recover his body.
"There's been no searching on that side much the lake. I mean, we're pleading to Mexican president, to Governor Perry, to President Obama, to Hillary, help us bring our son -- Tiffany's husband -home," said the victim's mother, Pam Hartley, on CBS's '"Early Show" today. "It's like we need to get over there and hunt for him. If nobody's hunting, how can he be found?"
On ABC's "Good Morning America," Pam Hartley specifically appealed to Clinton - and her maternal instincts - for help.
"To Hillary -- mother to mother -- help me bring my son home, please," Hartley said. "She's a mother, she would know."
Hartley also went on NBC's "Today Show" to tell her story.
"After I had seen some bullets hit the water next to me, I looked back to check on David," Hartley said, of the incident. "I saw him fly over the Jet Ski. He had been hit."
Hartley said she was bear the weight of her husband's body and returned to the United States solo to escape her attackers. She then placed a frantic call to 911 - but says she has since been stalled in her efforts to recover the body of her husband, who is presumed dead.
U.S. authorities say they are prohibited from entering Mexican waters to conduct a search for the body, and Mexico says it lacks the money to do so.
Mexican authorities have recently questioned the legitimacy of Hartley's story, citing a lack of concrete evidence regarding the incident, and saying "we are not certain that the incident happened the way they are telling us."
"As far as we know, we don't think they have been looking," Hartley responded on the "Early Show." "And there is -- we understand the possibility that the people who did this probably have him. And that's why maybe they can't find him," she said.
So far, the administration has not publicly responded to Pam Hartley's plea.
