Posted on 11/30/2006 1:20:57 AM PST by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin
HARLINGEN — Texas businessman David Mueller arrived home in Sweetwater late Wednesday bruised and battered but alive after kidnappers freed him and another man abducted during a hunting trip in Mexico, authorities said. The search continued for three men who were still missing after more than two dozen heavily armed men staged a commando-style raid Sunday night on a private hunting ranch across the border from Laredo. Mueller, the co-owner of Sweetwater Steel Co., was released in Monterrey, Mexico, then flown by private plane to Laredo, where he met with FBI agents before traveling home.
"He has sustained some physical and emotional abuse, but he's in the United States and reunited with his family," said Norman Townsend, supervisory senior FBI agent in Laredo. Mueller, 45, was scraped up, and his wrists were swollen from his captors' handcuffs. ''Apparently he was kicked around a little bit," FBI spokesman Erik Vasys said. After his ordeal, Mueller was resting late Wednesday, his wife, Anna, said. "He's fine, and we're just happy he's home." Monterrey businessman Fidel Rodriguez Cerdan also was released in Monterrey shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday, the FBI said. Neither he nor Mueller paid a ransom before their release, U.S. officials said on condition of anonymity.
Money considered motive
The two were hunting at the 6,500-acre La Barranca ranch near the Rio Grande northwest of Laredo when they were kidnapped along with the ranch's owner, Laredo customs broker Librado Piña Jr., 49, his son Librado Piña III, 25, and ranch cook Marco Ortiz. The FBI and Mexican agents are trying to locate them. ''We're aggressively pursuing leads to effect the safe return of the Piñas to the United States," Townsend said. ''We have every reason to hope and believe they are alive." U.S. authorities suspect the kidnapping was orchestrated or sanctioned by one of two drug cartels fighting for control of Nuevo Laredo. In the past two years, 58 Americans have been kidnapped in the area, and 24 are still missing.
The intended target
Mexican officials think the kidnapping target was Piña Jr. ''We suppose the owner of the ranch owed something, something economic," said Lt. Col. Aurelio Macias, director of the Coahuila state police. And, he said, the kidnappers evidently went to the ranch and "collected," carting off vehicles, stoves, refrigerators, bedroom furniture and even water pumps. A veteran U.S. agent said it's still too early to say why the Piñas were kidnapped. ''There is still no evidence of any illegal activities," he said. Relatives of the hunters say they're just grateful that at least two have been freed. ''We've been praying for all five of them to be released, and the Lord has already answered for two of them," one Piña family member said.
Mueller's family relieved
Mueller's older brother, Steve, co-owner of the steel company, said the past days have been "pretty scary." ''We didn't have any idea what those people had in mind, and we weren't hearing anything," he said. "We're feeling a whole lot better now that he's home." Relatives of other kidnapping victims say the latest episode saddened them. ''I feel a lot for those families, because I've been living it for almost four years," said Daniela Ortiz, whose husband, Sergio, disappeared in Nuevo Laredo in January 2003. ''It's something you can't even describe. It's very hard to wake up every morning, thinking about your loved one, and not knowing."
For all Texas folks...
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