An investigation is underway after two Arizona women were found shot to death in an overturned vehicle on a dangerous stretch of highway in northern Mexico.
The women, identified only by their last names and ages, were 72 and 82 years old, the Sonora state Attorney General's Office said in a statement on social media Friday.
The victims, originally from Caborca, Mexico, which is further southeast, had dual citizenship, from the United States and Mexico.
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A Mexican National Guard soldier and an Army soldier hold a sign reading “Mexican Army” in front of a pickup truck with alleged links to the deaths of two Arizona residents in Sonora, Mexico. (Office of the Attorney General of Sonora)
The Attorney General's Office said investigators from the Mexican National Guard and the military found a stolen Ford F-150 pickup truck and an AK-47 rifle and ammunition believed to be linked to the killings.
Investigators found a stolen Ford F-150 believed to be linked to the murders. (Office of the Attorney General of Sonora)
“Security forces from all three levels of government immediately launched an operation to locate and arrest the criminal group responsible, with the support of specialized air and ground forces,” the Sonora State Prosecutor's Office reported.
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Sonora and the Sonoyta-Caborca highway are known for violence and migrant trafficking.
Investigators also found an AK-47 and ammunition. (Office of the Attorney General of the State of Sonora)
In June 2023, a California student conducting horticulture research in Sonora was found shot seven times in a pickup truck. In December, two residents and a U.S. citizen were shot by gunmen while traveling on a highway in Sonora. One of the men was killed, according to the Arizona Daily Star.
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The state was once controlled by infamous drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who was arrested in 2016 and is serving a life sentence in Colorado, and three cartels remain at war in Sonora.
The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
