More than 100 people fled their rural community in northern Mexico on Saturday in an 18-vehicle caravan heading north, days after nine of their family members were killed in a drug cartel ambush.
Three women and six children were killed along a rural road near their Mormon community of La Mora on Monday, their three SUVs found riddled with bullets. The families were on their way to visit relatives in the rural Sonora community about 70 miles south of Douglas, The Associated Press reported.
On Saturday, families shuffled in and out of a gas station in Douglas near the port of entry as the sun began to set. They filled up on gas, put air in their tires and got food before getting back on the road on their way to Tucson and Phoenix. Their trucks were loaded with boxes, bicycles, spare tires and bags, all their belongings packed as they left the community their families have called home since the 1950s.
Bryce Langford, whose mother was one of the women killed, was on his way to visit his brother at a hospital in Tucson.
On Monday, Bryce’s mother, Dawna Ray Langford, 43, lay dead in the front seat of a Suburban, along with the bullet-riddled bodies of her sons, ages 11 and 2.
Dawna is survived by 11 children and her husband, Bryce Langford said.
Bryce Langford talks about the death of several of his family in the Mormon colony of La Mora, Mexico during a rendezvous in a gas station in Douglas, Ariz., Nov. 9, 2019, after about 100 members crossed back into the United States to flee the violence.
Of the children who escaped, one was shot in the face, another in the foot. One girl suffered gunshot wounds to her back and foot, the AP reported.
Another of Bryce’s brothers hid six children in the brush and walked back to La Mora to get help.
“We’re very proud of him,” Bryce said. “To be able to make those kind of decisions under those circumstances is something not a lot of people can say they can do.”
A girl, who was initially listed as missing, walked off in another direction to get help, despite her gunshot wounds.
Cartels in recent years have disrupted the community’s rural existence.
Bryce said the community has learned more about sicarios, cartel hitmen, in the area in recent months, and had been considering moving for a while. After Monday’s ambush, they decided it was something they had to do for their own safety.
Having to pick up and move so suddenly feels like something he’s seen in the movies but he never thought would happen to his family.
Most of the families are traveling to Phoenix, some to Tucson for now. They are not sure where they will settle down long term, Bryce said.
Bryce, who was raised in La Mora but now lives in North Dakota, said it wasn’t easy for his family to leave behind the land they’ve cultivated and called home for more than 50 years and to start over in the U.S.
“The assets that they’ve acquired down there are tremendous,” he said. “And to have to up and leave from one day to the next and leave all that behind, there’s definitely a lot of sad people here.”
Members of the colony from La Mora meet in Douglas. They loaded their vehicles with all their belongings as they left a community their families have called home since the 1950s.
During Monday’s massacre, Christina Langford, Bryce Langford’s cousin, apparently jumped out of her vehicle and waved her hands to show she wasn’t a threat, according to family members and prosecutors.
Prosecutors said she was found 15 yards away from her Suburban van, shot to death, The Associated Press reported. Her 7-month-old daughter, Faith Marie Johnson, was discovered uninjured in her car seat.
Inside another vehicle, the charred remains of Rhonita Miller, 30, her 10-year-old daughter, a son, 12, and her 8-month-old twins.
Photos: Mormon colonists cross back to the U.S. after they bury nine killed on Monday
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CORRECTS RELATION TO DAWNA - David Langford is consoled during the funeral service for his wife Dawna Ray and their two sons, in La Mora, Mexico, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2019. As Mexican soldiers stood guard, Dawna Ray Langford and her sons Trevor, 11, and Rogan, 2, were laid to rest in a single grave at the first funeral for the victims of a drug cartel ambush that left nine American women and children dead. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez)
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Family and friends attend a funeral service to remember Christina Langford Johnson the last victim of a cartel ambush that killed nine American women and children earlier this week, in Colonia Le Baron, Mexico, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2019. In the attack Monday, Langford Johnson jumped out of her vehicle and waved her hands to show she was no threat to the attackers and was shot twice in the heart, community members say. Her daughter Faith Marie Johnson, 7 months old, was found unharmed in her car seat. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
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Family and friends walk in a procession to the cemetery in La Mora, Mexico, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2019, for a burial for Dawna Ray Langford, 43, and her sons Trevor, 11, and Rogan, 2, who were killed in an ambush earlier this week. As Mexican soldiers stood guard, the three were laid to rest in a single grave at the first funeral for the victims of a drug cartel ambush that left nine American women and children dead. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez)
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Family photos and flowers adorn the coffins that contain the remains of Rhonita Miller and her four children victims of a drug cartel ambush that left three women and six children dead, during their wake in La Mora, Mexico, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2019. As Mexican soldiers stood guard earlier in the day, Dawna Ray Langford and her two sons were laid to rest together, just as they died together Monday when attackers fired a hail of bullets at their SUV. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez)
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Family and friends weep during the funeral service for Dawna Ray Langford, 43, and her sons Trevor, 11, and Rogan, 2, who were killed in an ambush earlier this week, in La Mora, Mexico, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2019. As Mexican soldiers stood guard, the three were laid to rest in a single grave at the first funeral for the victims of a drug cartel ambush that left nine American women and children dead. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez)
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Women embrace during the funeral service for Dawna Ray Langford, 43, and her sons Trevor, 11, and Rogan, 2, who were killed in an ambush earlier this week, in La Mora, Mexico, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2019. As Mexican soldiers stood guard, the three were laid to rest in a single grave at the first funeral for the victims of a drug cartel ambush that left nine American women and children dead. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez)
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A woman holding an infant stands near the coffins that contain the remains of Dawna Ray Langford, 43, and her sons Trevor, 11, and Rogan, 2, during their funeral service in La Mora, Mexico, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2019. As Mexican soldiers stood guard, Dawna Ray and her two sons were laid to rest in a single grave Thursday at the first funeral for the victims of a drug cartel ambush that left nine American women and children dead. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez)
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People attend the funeral of Dawna Ray Langford, 43, and her sons Trevor, 11, and Rogan, 2, who were killed in an ambush earlier this week, in La Mora, Mexico, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2019. As Mexican soldiers stood guard, the three were laid to rest in a single grave at the first funeral for the victims of a drug cartel ambush that left nine American women and children dead. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez)
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Cole Langford, left, and Hayden Spenct, of the Mormon colony in La Mora, Mexico hug during a rendezvous in a gas station, Douglas, Ariz., Nov. 9, 2019, after about 100 members crossed back into the United States to flee the violence.
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Bryce Langford talks about the death of several of his family in the Mormon colony of La Mora, Mexico during a rendezvous in a gas station, Douglas, Ariz., Nov. 9, 2019, after about 100 members crossed back into the United States to flee the violence.
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Members of the Mormon colony from La Mora Mexico, greet each other during a rendezvous in a gas station, Douglas, Ariz., Nov. 9, 2019, after about 100 members crossed back into the United States to flee the violence.
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This combination of frames from Nov. 4, 2019, video by Kenny Miller and posted on the Twitter account of Alex LeBaron shows two views of a burned-out vehicle that was being used by some members of the LeBaron family as they were driving in a convoy near the Sonora-Chihuahua border in Mexico. Mexican authorities say drug cartel gunmen ambushed multiple vehicles, including this one, slaughtering several women and children. (Kenny Miller/Courtesy of Alex LeBaron via AP)
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Heavily armed Mexican authorities guard a caravan of friends and relatives of the LeBaron family as they arrive at the site where nine U.S. citizens, three women and six children related to the extended LeBaron family, were slaughtered when cartel gunmen ambushed three SUVs along a dirt road near Bavispe, at the Sonora-Chihuahua border, Mexico, Wednesday, Nov 6, 2019. Three women and six of their children, related to the extended LeBaron family, were gunned down in an attack while traveling along Mexico's Chihuahua and Sonora state border on Monday. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
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A forensic investigator walks the site where nine U.S. citizens, three women and six children related to the extended LeBaron family, were slaughtered when cartel gunmen ambushed three SUVs along a dirt road near Bavispe, at the Sonora-Chihuahua border, Mexico, Wednesday, Nov 6, 2019. Three women and six of their children, related to the extended LeBaron family, were gunned down in an attack while traveling along Mexico's Chihuahua and Sonora state border on Monday. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
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Mexican military patrol in La Mora, Sonora state, Mexico, the community where people are holding the funeral for Dawna Ray Langford, 43, and her sons Trevor, 11, and Rogan, 2, who were killed by drug cartel gunmen, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2019. Three women and six of their children, all members of the extended LeBaron family, died when they were gunned down in an attack while traveling along Mexico's Chihuahua and Sonora state border on Monday. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez)
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A boy pauses as he speaks next to the coffins of Dawna Ray Langford, 43, and her sons Trevor, 11, and Rogan, 2, who were killed by drug cartel gunmen, during the funeral at a family cemetery in La Mora, Sonora state, Mexico, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2019. Three women and six of their children, all members of the extended LeBaron family, died when they were gunned down in an attack while traveling along Mexico's Chihuahua and Sonora state border on Monday. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
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A daughter of Dawna Langford who survived an ambush earlier this week, is carried by an unidentified man during a memorial service for her mother and two brothers, at a cemetery in La Mora, Mexico, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2019. As Mexican soldiers stood guard, Dawna Ray Langford, 43, and her sons Trevor, 11, and Rogan, 2, were laid to rest in a single grave dug at the first funeral for the victims of a drug cartel ambush that left nine American women and children dead. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
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Family and friends carry the coffins that contain the remains of Dawna Ray Langford, 43, and her sons Trevor, 11, and Rogan, 2, who were killed in an ambush earlier this week, to a small cemetery in La Mora, Mexico, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2019. As Mexican soldiers stood guard, the three were laid to rest in a single grave at the first funeral for the victims of a drug cartel ambush that left nine American women and children dead. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
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Mexican soldiers stand guard as Dawna Ray Langford, 43, and her sons Trevor, 11, and Rogan, 2, are laid to rest at a family cemetery in La Mora, Mexico, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2019. The three were laid to rest in a single grave Thursday, the first funeral for the victims of a drug cartel ambush that left nine American women and children dead. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)