Arizonans' main risk in Sonora: road travel

Arizona residents may be right to worry about traveling in Sonora, but they should probably fear the roads more than gun-wielding drug warriors.

Motor-vehicle accidents killed 71 percent of the nearly 200 Americans who died in Sonora from non-natural causes from October 2002 to June 2010, U.S. federal data show.

That's a far higher percentage than in Mexico's neighboring border states, Baja California and Chihuahua. There, more Americans were murdered than died in vehicle crashes.

Still, five American citizens were murdered in Sonora in the first six months of this year. That's the highest number the State Department has found in the eight years since it began compiling the data, suggesting that the risk of violence in Sonora may be rising. A total of 16 Americans have been reported murdered in Sonora in those years.

The State Department warns that its data, which Congress mandated that it begin collecting in fiscal year 2003, includes only deaths reported to the department and may not include every one.

The figures don't stop Arizonans from worrying that, if they travel to Sonora, they'll end up like Ronald C. Ryan. The 67-year-old Phoenix man, a hunting outfitter who worked in Sonora, was apparently murdered for his new pickup near Santa Ana, Sonora, on May 3.

But Arizonans who die in Sonora are more likely to meet a fate like the one Tucsonan Brenda M. Bernal did on March 13. Bernal, 33, rented a quad in Rocky Point and crashed, injuring a passenger and killing her.

Sonora second-deadliest

From October 2002 through June 2010, at least 198 American citizens have died in Sonora - the second-highest number among Mexico's six border states. There have been 333 deaths reported in Baja California, and 125 in Chihuahua, the notoriously violent state to Sonora's east.

Americans were more likely to be murdered than die by any other non-natural cause in those two states. In Chihuahua, 62 percent of the Americans who died in the last eight years were murdered, compared with 24 percent who died in vehicle accidents. In Baja California, 39 percent of the Americans who died were murdered, compared with 31 percent who died in crashes.

Those figures reflect a reality of present-day life in Mexico, said Francisco Quiñones, director of operations for a Reston, Va.-based foreign security firm, Clayton Consulting.

"Some parts of Mexico are really, really dangerous, and other parts are much safer than the cities where they (U.S. travelers) live in the United States," Quiñones said.

Sonora is not one of Mexico's more dangerous states for violent crime, Quiñones said. But travelers generally should be careful in Mexico's border region and try to keep up on news of shootouts or other incidents that might show a particular area is unstable.

For example, he pointed to a recent shootout between drug traffickers in the Sonoran city of San Luis Rio Colorado as the kind of news that might make him cautious about traveling to that city.

Night trips not advised

The most common advice for Americans in Mexico is not to travel at night. It's advice that can keep people out of trouble on the roads and away from criminals.

Ryan, the hunting outfitter from Phoenix, drove from a Sonoran ranch north toward Nogales early one morning in May. At about 4:30 a.m. he stopped for coffee at a convenience store, said former business partner Bart Hill, who cited conversations he had with American officials after Ryan's death.

There, he apparently was confronted by young thugs who wanted his pickup - a 2009 Dodge with 20-inch chrome wheels and other attractive details, Hill said.

His body was found a week later outside Santa Ana, Sonora. In the interim, Sonoran authorities arrested three young men, two of them part of a notorious local crime family. Police had seized the stolen vehicle from a local car wash, and the three young men went to a state police office, armed with heavy weapons, to get it back, a Sonoran police spokesman said. Police arrested them and accused them of the murder.

Americans need to be aware that even quaint little towns have their own bands of thugs.

"You have to be just as guarded in those sleepy little towns as you do in the big cities," said Hill, who still travels south of the border.

But experts noted that many Americans murdered in Mexico are themselves involved in crime. On Jan. 4, Californian Uriel Armenta was murdered in Nogales, Sonora. Family members said he was involved in smuggling, El Imparcial newspaper reported.

2 areas have most deaths

In Sonora, the two areas that account for the most deaths are the tourist hot spot of Puerto Peñasco, also known as Rocky Point, and Hermosillo, the Sonoran state capital. There have been 39 deaths reported in Rocky Point since October 2002 and 34 in Hermosillo.

Nogales (17), Guaymas (16), Sonoyta (14) and Imuris (11) have the next-most deaths.

Many fatalities occurred on the main highways Americans use in Sonora. Crashes on Mexico's Highway 15, which runs north-south through Nogales, Hermosillo and Guaymas, have accounted for more than 30 deaths.

Around Rocky Point, deaths have occurred both on the highway and in the city.

Brenda Bernal was quite familiar with both Rocky Point and all-terrain vehicles when she traveled there in March, friends said. But a bad decision and a fluky incident took her life, reports said.

Bernal rented a quad and opted not to use a helmet, the Rocky Point News Online website reported, citing Puerto Peñasco police. While driving the quad, with a friend on the back, Bernal's hat blew off and she slammed on the brakes. The vehicle flipped and rolled, killing her, the news site reported.

"She was a good person all around," said friend Veronica Soto. "She'd get involved in charity events such as car washes or fundraisers for anyone who asked for help. She was a loyal friend, and those are hard to find."

Travelers shouldn't interpret Bernal's death as a reason to fear Rocky Point, some say.

"The main tourist destinations have been very, very safe," said Quiñones, of Clayton Consulting.

However, he added, while driving in Sonora, Americans should beware of the long distances between towns as well as deep potholes and unfenced cows.

Contact reporter Tim Steller at 520-807-8427 or tsteller@azstarnet.com Contact reporter Brady McCombs at 520-573-4213 or bmccombs@azstarnet.com