house to move into. i mean, we were excited about them coming home. reporter: but there was some unfinished business. one last adventure david had long talked about, but never got around to. he had heard of a church partially submerged in falcon lake on the mexican side in an abandoned village called old guerrero. perfect for a couple who loved their jet skis and loved adventure. i m just like, okay. let s go see it. reporter: had they asked local law enforcement would have warned them about pirates on the lake. had they asked, captain stacy holland would have told them not to go. we don t recommend going into mexico on the side of the lake, but it s perfectly well within your rights, but we just want you to be aware that that threat is out there, and it s very real, and you should take it seriously. reporter: it was a thursday
definition of piracy a lot different than what i know it to be. had one robbery on the lake totally. reporter: robert speedy colette who owns a fishing lodge here admits he s been stopped by drug cartel members but he also bristles at news reports of piracy and danger. these reports have decimated his business on the lake, which he insists is safe, as long as you know the rules. it happened to me. i didn t run. they boarded. they found out i wasn t a threat, and i was released. never robbed. never took a penny from me. they did not my wallet was in my glove box. i had $1,100 in my wallet. my clients were pretty wealthy people. they had plenty of money on them. nothing ever happened to them. reporter: in the air over falcon lake, stacy holland says the texas department of public safety was already advising boaters on falcon lake to be very careful.
and americans have been targets, too. you know, i almost think that we re flying over tribal pakistan, the way you describe this area. are you surprised or are you hardened to the fact that most of america doesn t realize this is going on? you know, it does amaze me, and maybe it s because i m exposed to it so much working on the southwestern border, but we re in a war. we re in an engagement with an enemy that s like no other enemy we ever faced before. you have to combat these people with some of the same tactics that they employ on you. if you asked me ten years ago would we be doing some of the missions and tactics that we re doing today, i would have said absolutely not. reporter: since 2004, the state department says 200 americans have been killed in mexico and nearly all caught up in the vicious firefights between rival drug cartels. it is no different even along this peaceful 28-mile long lake
only people with jet skis are involved with dope. right. reporter: clearly nervous, colette barely slowed down as we approach the church tiffany and david hartley visited on september 30th. he turned the boat and gave us 30 seconds to take the pictures at the exact spot tiffany hartley said they had stopped. this is the last place they came to at the old guerrero church. they took pictures on the front step, according to tiffany hartley. and they set down this channel to head back, and it was about five minutes into their voyage when they were approached by the boats. in an instant, the man who told us this lake was safe was again speeding away from mexico 70 miles an hour. the same path the hartleys were on when tiffany says the attack began. there s a boat on our left and two on our right. on kind of towards the land, we re kind of in the middle of the lake.
why wasn t there far more blood evidence? the jet ski the jet ski was destroyed. my understanding, the jet ski was taken apart. the parts that would float were burned and buried afterwards. and the parts that would not float were just thrown into the lake and of course, they sunk. this is coming in from mexico. reporter: the sheriff believes hartley s story but may never be able to prove it. david hartley s mother can barely control her emotion. what happened to david and tiffany was an act of terror. plain and simple. it was a senseless violence, but it was an act of terror. and that is not going to end at the border. it s over here already. reporter: and for tiffany herself, it is even more troubling. reporter: do you think your husband is a victim of, in a way, politics? i would say a victim of terrorism.