The family of a teenager allegedly kidnapped from Colonia LeBaron says it has refused to pay $1 million ransom demanded by his abductors, instead launching a mass appeal to government officials for help rescuing him and protecting the town.
Eric LeBaron, 16, was taken from the family's ranch in the mountains above the town, established decades ago by an exiled polygamist from Utah, on Saturday at gunpoint by five masked men, said Benjamin LeBaron, an older brother, in a telephone interview. The kidnappers allowed a younger brother to return to their father, Joel LeBaron Jr. Since then, they have contacted the family several times threatening to kill the boy if the ransom is not paid.
On Monday, 500 to 600 residents made their way to the capital city of Chihuahua where they staged a protest and demanded to meet with Gov. Jose Reyes Baeza Terrazas. The governor was in Mexico City for meetings, but an assistant was meeting every three to four hours with family representatives, said Benjamin LeBaron.
"We have the government authorities involved and believe they are doing the best they can," he said, adding that authorities have searched for the boy but so far have no leads.
A source close to the family who asked not be identified said the "whole community is devastated" and fear the boy will be killed.
Colonia LeBaron began when Alma Dayer LeBaron arrived in Mexico in 1924 after being driven out of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah because of his plural marriages. He first lived in Colonia Juarez, one of several colonies founded in the late 1880s by Mormons as the federal government moved to end polygamy.
Alma Dayer LeBaron later settled a ranch that became Colonia LeBaron in Galeana, Chihuahua. The town has approximately 1,500 residents, who mostly operate hay and pecan tree farms. The community is fractured into a number of faith groups, with no single leader and many no longer practice polygamy.
"These guys don't have millions," said Irene Spencer of California, an aunt of the boy's father. "They are all farmers."
Benjamin LeBaron said there have been five kidnappings in the surrounding area in the past three months; ransoms were paid in those cases.
"We decided not to pay the ransom they were asking," he said, believing doing so is fueling continued abductions.
"Before, it was once every three months, now, it is every week," Benjamin LeBaron said. "We are praying our choice was the right choice. There are moments we feel we are doing the right thing, there are moments that we feel confused . . . that we're doing the wrong thing. Nevertheless, we made a choice to take a stand and we are following through as a community."
Benjamin LeBaron said that he is unsure who the abductors are, but downplayed earlier reports that the men are members of a Mexican drug cartel.
"I think that they are people who had something to do with moving drugs at one time and now business is slow and the easiest way to make money now is taking people for ransom," he said.
Benjamin LeBaron said the community plans to continue demonstrating outside the governor's palace until there is a response.
"I am not blaming him for what is happening," Benjamin LeBaron said. "However, we do want them [to] give us the means to help us defend ourselves."
The Los Angeles Times reports there have been 7,337 deaths related to drug violence in Mexico since January 2007. A year ago, the Mexican government launched Joint Operation Chihuahua to stem drug cartel violence in the area.
"It's getting too out of hand way too fast," Benjamin LeBaron said. "We are hoping we can be an inspiration."
