California couple shot and killed in Mexico while visiting family, officials say

A California couple visiting family in Mexico was shot and killed in the state of Michoacán on Wednesday, according to officials.

Named only as Rafael C., 53, and María Gloria A., 50, the pair were visiting the town of Angamacutiro in Michoacán for the holidays, the Attorney General's Office of the State of Michoacán said in a press statement.

A spokesperson for the office, Magdalena Guzmán, told The New York Times that authorities found the couple in their car on a street in Angamacutiro. The vehicle was riddled with bullet holes and inside was the body of a woman who died on the scene and a man who was still alive but died at a nearby hospital the next morning, Guzmán told the outlet.

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Prosecutors also said both were U.S. citizens, with the woman being a naturalized American born in Mexico and the man born in the U.S. to Mexican parents, reported Reuters. Investigators do not yet know if or why the couple was targeted.

The killings come months after Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum took office in October and promised to tackle crime. She was previously successful in stymying violent crime as mayor of Mexico City.

Even so, her first two months in office have been marked by an outbreak of cartel violence in several hot spots including the killing of a senior judge Wednesday in Acapulco where a day earlier Sheinbaum had met with governors and security officials to address a wave of violence..

USA TODAY reached out to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico for comment.

Contributing: Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: California couple killed visiting family in Michoacán, Mexico