Four Young U.S. Citizens Found Murdered in Tijuana

The four victims, ages 19 to 23 years old, were from the San Diego and Chula Vista areas of California and were visiting Tijuana to hit the clubs there. At this point, details are sketchy as to what may have happened, but authorities seem to think that they inadvertently fell in with the wrong crowd and were likely killed as a result of an ongoing turf war between rival Mexican drug cartels.

The four were reported missing on Friday morning after calls to all of their cell phones went unanswered. They had traveled to Tijuana on Thursday night. "I just don't think kids should be going to Tijuana right now," Chula Vista police Lt. Scott Arsenault told the San Diego Union-Tribune. "They ran into the wrong people, obviously."

Given the violence that has erupted around Mexico, it's difficult to envision why young people would find Tijuana an attractive place to visit. But it's probably something that they or their friends had done numerous times before and they likely felt comfortable in that environment, despite the dangers.

Unfortunately, this trip to Tijuana would be their last. Four young lives cut short as a result of collateral damage in a drug war that will continue to rage. It's unlikely that suspects in the case will ever be identified or caught.