trying to stop the violence of a full-scale drug war from spilling north. are there parts of this border that you would be basically lawless or run by the cartels? absolutely. reporter: smack in the middle of this 21st century version of the wild west, two young americans, david hartley and tiffany young, just teenagers when they fell in love. we started dating in 98. the summer of 98, and dated for quite a while before we got engaged in 2001 and married in 2002. what took so long? we were 18. reporter: they wound up here, in the mexican border town of reynosa, jut south of mccallon. he was a district manager for an oil company. it was a blessing to us and our marriage. yeah. we were that s where we truly grew as a couple and had adventures. reporter: when the hartley s first arrive here this peaceful town was a perfect place for the young couple to live, but slowly it became more and more violent. there is a war in reynosa.
yeah. we were that s where we truly grew as a couple and had adventures. reporter: when the hartley s first arrive here this peaceful town was a perfect place for the young couple to live, but slowly it became more and more violent. there is a war in reynosa. two drug cartels battling for turf. the zetas, a rogue band of former military are trying to push out the gulf cartel which has smuggled drugs across the rio grande for decades. killings of constant. tiffany and david hartley learned firsthand. mexican police were not to be trusted. for instance, he was coming home from the bank after cashing our rent check and police pulled him over, followed him from the bank. pulled him over. had him step out and punched him in the face and stole his money.
we re kind of in the middle of the lake. and then that s when he motioned that we needed to go. reporter: did you see something in his eyes that said, this could be serious? i could just tell by his body language. up know, i saw him, and he was just kind of we got to go. like, this is serious, but he stayed behind and stayed between me and the boats. reporter: protecting you? uh-huh. reporter: it was now a chase. tiffany says her jet ski was going at least 65 miles an hour. they were racing for the other side, for the u.s., for safety. i mean, were you scared? were you frightened at that moment? oh, oh my gosh. yeah. reporter: you thought these guys are coming after us? uh-huh. reporter: three boats closing from two directions, but not catching up. tiffany thought they would outrun them until she heard the shots. you heard shots. boom, boom, boom? you could hear them, you could feel them. you could feel them flying by you. until i saw the two next to me.
outrun them until she heard the shots. you heard shots. boom, boom, boom? you could hear them, you could feel them. you could feel them flying by you. until i saw the two next to me. that s when it came really clear how close they were. reporter: and you saw your husband get shot and thrown from the jet ski? yeah. reporter: tiffany says she circled back as the three boats encircled her. david was face-down she says floating when she jumped into the water in a failed attempt to save him. turning him over, she realized there was nothing to save. why did you turn around? he s my husband. he s my love. he s my life. he s everything to me. and once i saw him flying off, i didn t know where he was shot,
however, seems very different. on her website, bring david home dot com there are plenty of people who still believe she is a suspect. she continues making statements perceived as odd. what she told me, that god was involved in this traffic stop the day david was killed. to help her. tiffany, you just said from that moment i knew god s hand was in our lives that day. people probably think that well, how? reporter: i m thinking that right now. because i believe he had us being pulled over to prove, because he knew that i would be judged, that i would be questioned that day for what happened. reporter: even though dna proved david s blood was on tiffany s life jacket, questions persist. where was the camera they used