The nine women and children killed by drug cartel gunmen in northern
Mexico lived in a remote farming community where residents call themselves Mormon — descendants of former members of The Church of Jesus of Latter-day Saints who fled the U.S. to escape the church's 19th century polygamy ban.
Many of the families living there trace their origins to the community of La Mora to the 1950s — and some have much deeper roots.
While many La Mora residents identify as Mormon, they also consider themselves independent from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said Cristina Rosetti, a Mormon fundamentalism scholar and expert.