But conflict has flared in Tamaulipas over the past 15 years as the incumbent Gulf Cartel – founded in Matamoros – fragmented, starting with its notoriously violent armed wing, Los Zetas.

She may have been caught in the crossfire of a separate shootout between a cartel and the Tamaulipas State Guard. That killing didn’t make headlines and the victim’s name hasn’t been ...

Victims of violence in Matamoros and other large border cities of Tamaulipas often go uncounted because the cartels have a history taking bodies of their own with them.