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Mexico’s kidnapping battle tested in farm town

By Michael Weissenstein
Published February 11, 2014 2:51pm ET
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Mexico’s kidnapping battle tested in farm town
In this Feb. 5, 2014, photo, Maria Gonzalez, touches a picture of her son Cesar, during an interview with The Associated Press inside her home in Yautepec, Mexico. In 2012. Cesar, a 33-year-old architect and engineer, was kidnapped as he drove through Cuernavaca to visit his family in Yautepec. The family got together $10,000 and left it in packets of $2,000 in a cereal box in Cuernavaca. Five days later he was found dead in the trunk of his car. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) | Eduardo Verdugo

YAUTEPEC, Mexico (AP) — Gunmen grabbed a taxi driver near his home in this bustling central Mexico farm town in December and demanded a $3,000 ransom. His family paid but his captors killed him anyway.

A 22-year-old student was taken, slain and dumped by a highway after his family failed to produce $30,000. Gunmen broke into an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, picked out a hardware store owner, kidnapped and killed him, too.

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