"Sin pistas" once again the standard line in case of murdered American
"This worsening security situation already has caused problems for expatriates in Mexico in 2013" - Stratfor Global Intelligence, March 7, 2013
Guadalajara -
Nine months ago the brazen, daytime machine gun and hand grenade attack on then Vallarta police commander Roberto Rodríguez Preciado got a little press attention in this country, although a fraction of the coverage the same event would have generated in Mexico City or this capital, much less in a major U.S. tourist resort.
Even after Los Zetas banners were hung out at several prominent locations claiming responsibility for the ambush - even after chief Rodríguez resigned less than a week later, after promising he wouldn't - no one in officialdom seemed to be overly concerned.
And while the Rodríguez case vanished from the papers within a few days, the longer term damage remains, much to the detriment of a city whose entire existence is dependent upon the influx of tourist dollars. Puerto Vallarta: tensions linger after brazen narco attack.
P.V. police offered the standard investigative response back in October 2012 - so standard, in fact, that virtually the same words can be extracted from dozens of press accounts of other long closed, long unsolved criminal files: Aun no hay ninguna pista sobre los agresores, pero sí los peritos están trabajando para esclarecer los hechos.
Loosely translated: "There's still no clue about who did this, but detectives are working to determine the facts." Such is the template regularly relied upon by Puerto Vallarta police (and in fairness, by many other departments across the country). That's why Mexicans endlessly complain about "crime with impunity" in this nation of 118 million.
Last weekend's brutal murder of 65 year old U.S. national John Dickmeyer won't help matters any in a city just trying to make it through the stifling summer months, whose comerciantes pray that next season somehow will be better than last's. Puerto Vallarta sweats through the dog days of summer
Dickmeyer was a California native, according to local press accounts, and had extensive real estate interests in Vallarta. Early Friday evening police found his bound and gagged body in a bedroom of his home in Colonia Bobadilla. His 41 year old housekeeper told investigators that two men had come to the house several hours earlier, inquiring about an apartment which Dickmeyer had listed for rent. The American admitted them, and minutes later the visitors attacked him and his Mexican domestic. She was bound, too, but after several hours managed to free herself and summon help. Police have not listed a cause of death, but Dickmeyer may have suffocated after the assailants taped his mouth - a voguish method of execution with organized crime in Mexico, it should be noted.
Robbery was the probable motive, but police are otherwise sin pistas, of course, as Puerto Vallarta goes about its business. Nothing has changed in the City of the Iguana, where a fear once unknown now undeniably lurks.
Aug. 21 - Poor tourism prognosis concerns Puerto Vallarta official
May 14 - Drug cartels behind three recent Guadalajara attacks
Apr. 1 - Death toll in Guadalajara bar attacks rises to eight
© MGRR 2013. All rights reserved. This article may be cited or briefly quoted with proper attribution or a hyperlink, but not reproduced without permission.
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