POSTED: Sunday, May 9, 2010 - 8:09pm
UPDATED: Sunday, July 18, 2010 - 8:02am
LA MESA, NM - Three New Mexicans were kidnapped at a Juarez wedding on Friday, now their La Mesa neighbors are hoping the family is okay.
"They're just happy people, they waived at us from across the street," Ofelia Luna said.
Ofelia and her husband Tony say they live across the street from the Morales family. Rafael morales, 29, his brother Jaime Morales, 25, and their uncle Guadalupe Morales, 47, were kidnapped. We're told Rafael Morales and his new wife were getting ready to walk out of the church when a gunman came in and grabbed the three men. A guest tried to help the men but ended up shot and killed, and all of it seems to be completely random.
"That we know of they had nothing to do with drugs, at all," Ofelia luna said.
We spoke to the mother of the groom the day the men were kidnapped. She also said the family had nothing to do with drug cartels or organized crime.
Neighbors say the family owns a trucking business, and we're told they are very caring people.
"The man would always come over and drink coffee. He would say 'hi,' ask how we were doing. If we needed anything he was really friendly, he would treat us like a member of the family," Neighbor Rosario Rodriguez said.
It's still unclear what happened to the men, and the guest who was shot has still not been identified. Now neighbors in the small New Mexico town are left hoping for the best.