Murder of Mormon family in Mexico offers no easy answers, only questions

But, according to a recent article in the Daily Beast and various accounts in Mexican newspapers, what put the LeBarons on a collision course with other powerful interests in Mexico wasn't wives but water. The family resides on several large ranches in the border states of Sonora and Chihuahua, and those parcels use a lot of water. Other local Mexican farmers have complained for years, according to the article, and the confrontation has become violent in the past.

All of this puts me, and many people, in a tough spot. Like a lot of folks in the United States and Mexico, I want to know why this terrible thing happened. But I don't want to say or write anything that blames the victims or makes it seem as if they brought this tragedy upon themselves.

Let me be clear. They didn't. No one deserves this. The women and children who were gunned down were innocents. But that doesn't mean that U.S. authorities should not be taking a hard look at the other members of the family -- those who were not in the caravan that day, and some of whom have now packed up the rest of their relatives and left Mexico to return to the United States.

The FBI is working with Mexican officials to investigate the murders, and some arrests have already been made. But this is Mexico. Who knows what really happened?

The Daily Beast quotes an anonymous source identified as a member of a Mexican drug cartel, who doesn't seem to know who was behind the attack but suggests it was personal.

"Kids? Little babies? This is more along the lines of retaliation," the source told the website. "Mexicans don't kill a bunch of white kids for no reason."

I'll buy that. So what was the reason? We should not rest, or stop digging, until we know.

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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com. His daily podcast, "Navarrette Nation," is available through every podcast app.