but unconscious, having been hit in the left eye by one bullet. He died five hours later without regaining consciousness. An investigation by police found that the bandits, later identified as Ezequiel Lara and Manuel Garcia, had robbed the place and cut the wires for the town's only telephone, which was located in the store. The police discovered two sets of footprints and also learned from the townspeople that two unknown Mexicans had been seen in the area. A local rancher reported that two of his best horses and eight of his cattle had been stolen at or near the same date, making the police assume the incidents were related. The Nogales newspaper Weekly Oasis said that the tragedy is nothing new over there. In the wild and rugged region south from the Atascosa Mountains and the Bear Valley region, there has been always a harbor for a bunch of desperate characters, whose depredations have been felt by American cattlemen and ranchers through many years. A posse led by Sheriff Raymond Earhardt was sent south along the bandit's trail, but they failed to catch up with the suspects. Months passed, during which time very little progress was made in the investigation. Finally, in October 1920, Garcia was killed during a gunfight with Pima County deputy sheriffs near Twin Buttes. Lara was eventually arrested in Mexico and jailed for crimes south of the border, but was never called to answer for his role in the Fraser killings. August 26, 1921 The second incident occurred in August 1921 following the transfer of the mercantile's ownership to a Mr. and Mrs. Frank Pearson, who lived in the store with their three daughters. Although Mr. Pearson was told about the previous killings and the situation on the border, he felt that a second attack on the store was unlikely to happen. However, on the morning of April 26, Frank and his wife Myrtle took a horseback ride into the surrounding hills and while doing so they spotted a group of seven Mexicans riding towards the town. The two thought that the Mexicans would likely want to visit the mercantile so they rode back to serve them. When the Mexicans entered the store they asked for tobacco and as soon as Mr. Pearson turned around to get it the bandits drew their pistols and fired into his back. Pearson was mortally wounded by two bullets,