JUAREZ , Mexico ( CNN ) -- Jose Molinar knew something was n't right . He had n't heard from his wife for a few hours , which was not sitting well with him . Marisella Molinar was killed while driving her boss , a target of cartels , across the border into El Paso , Texas . Marisella Molinar worked as a secretary for a top prosecutor in Juarez , Mexico , Jesus Huerta Yedra . She was employed in the office for more than 10 years and though she lived across the border in El Paso , Texas , with her husband , she drove about 20 minutes over the Juarez-El Paso border every day to the job she loved . The growing violence over rival drug cartels had concerned the couple , but Mexico was a part of their lives and they were sure the violence stayed between rival drug gangs , who were fighting over a lucrative drug route into the United States . Without fail , Marisella Molinar would call her husband every day when she arrived to work , went out for lunch and when she was leaving the office . But on December 3 , 2008 , by around 5:30 p.m. , Jose Molinar still had n't heard from his wife . He called the office in Mexico and was told she was giving her boss a ride over the border so he could do some Christmas shopping . Jose Molinar turned on his television , and his life changed forever . `` As soon as the image came up , I saw her truck , '' said Molinar , who was watching the news out of Juarez , `` and I knew what happened right then and there . '' Watch Jose Molinar talk about the moment he knew his wife was killed » . Marisella Molinar was in the wrong place at the wrong time . Her passenger , Jesus Huerta Yedra , was a target of the cartels that day . As Molinar 's car was about a mile away from the border crossing back to the United States , gunmen walked up to her car and fired 85 rounds from an AK-47 into their intended target . One shot hit Marisella Molinar , a mother of two and proud grandmother , in the chest , killing her instantly . `` She was n't involved , she did n't have anything to do with this ! '' said Jose Molinar in a recent interview with CNN . `` She was the guy 's secretary and she was giving him a ride to meet his wife here in El Paso who was Christmas shopping . '' But instead of making it home to help her husband hang Christmas lights , Marisella Molinar became yet another victim in the drug war taking place just steps from the U.S. border . The violence generated by the war of the drug cartels for control of drug routes translated last year into some 6,000 killings . More than 1,600 of them occurred in Juarez , three times more than the most murderous city in the United States . This year , in two months , the body count in Juarez is 400 . Mexican military and police in riot gear now patrol the once popular streets of Juarez . Gone are the Americans shopping , dining and partying . The bars and restaurants are shuttered -- many closed for good . Americans do n't come here anymore . In March 2008 , the Mexican military joined with Mexican states and local law enforcement in the fight against drug cartels in border cities . Mexican President Felipe Calderon has waged a war against business as usual with the cartels who controlled drug routes through Mexico and into the United States . The fallout has led rival drug gangs to launch all-out war not only with the military , but also with each other , because the once-established drug routes are now up for grabs . The violence has been the worst in Juarez , where cartels have killed police officers , forced the chief of police to resign and threatened public officials . `` They started killing police officers , and not when they were doing police work , but when they were coming out of their homes and getting into their cars to go to the police station , '' said Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz , whose own family has recently received death threats . At the city 's only morgue , bodies are piling up . The mayor said there are far too many dead for the small facility to handle . The majority of the dead are unidentified members of the cartels . Just last week , the mayor said , 50 corpses were buried in mass graves because no one claimed the bodies . Officials from both sides of the border said the drug war may go on for years . Beheadings , bodies riddled with gunfire and blood-stained streets will continue daily , they said . They added that the appetite for illegal drugs is too great in the United States , and the drug routes are too lucrative for the battles to end . `` It 's not going to be won quickly , '' said Enrique Torres , a spokesman for the Mexican government , adding that the Mexican president is committed to fighting the cartels . `` He ca n't talk about a time frame in this type of situation . We know the monster is big , but we do n't have an idea of how big it is . ''
Carmen Sanchez , a secretary , was killed nearly a mile from her U.S. home . Husband : ` ` She was n't involved , she did n't have anything to do with this ! '' More than 1,600 deaths in Juarez last year , and already this year . People have killed policemen , forced the chief to resign , threatened public safety .