When 'Sister Wives' Christine Brown's Husband David Mentioned Family Who Died in Tragic Mexico Massacre

Sister Wives star Christine Brown's wedding to David Woolley was an emotional family affair. The couple wed in a grand ceremony at Moab, Utah, in October 2023. However, viewers got to know some shocking details about Woolley's past during the wedding special that aired on TLC earlier this month.

As per The US Sun, in the special episode, Woolley is seen addressing the absence of his late niece Dawna Ray Langford and her two children, Trevor Harvey Langford and Rogan Jay Langford, who tragically died in November 2019. It was revealed that the young mother and her two sons were among the three fatalities of the extensively reported 2019 'drug cartel' ambush, which claimed the lives of six children and three American mothers. 

About 100 miles south of the Arizona border, in Chihuahua, the group was traveling to a wedding in three different SUVs on November 4 when the tragedy occurred. Dawna’s son, Devin Langford, was the only one who survived the shooting.

Back then, in an interview with Good Morning America, he opened up about the horrifying day, “They just started hitting [the] car first, like with a bunch, a bunch of bullets. Just start shooting rapidly at us. The car didn’t work. So she was just trying right there, starting the car as much as she could, but I’m pretty sure they shot something so the car wouldn’t even start. Afterward, they got us out of the car, and they just got us on the floor and then they drove off. She was trying to pray to the lord, and she was trying to start the car up to get out of there."

Evelyn, the mother of the construction executive, spoke movingly during the couple's wedding reception in Utah. Woolley also revealed at one point that he had two sisters living in Mexico who were involved in polygamous marriages. Karen, Shanna, Roy, Tamara, Harold, Christine, and Katricia are among his seven siblings. The nine Mormon victims from northern Mexico were ambushed while returning to the United States in three different SUVs.

According to Mexican authorities, the family was accidentally assaulted by one of the cartels when they drove into an area where rival cartel groups had engaged in gunfire earlier that day as part of their continuous conflict over territory. The slain Mormon family members held dual citizenship.

Speaking with ABC News back then Dawna's husband, David Langford, described her as "a nice person" and "brave woman that tried to save her kids." He shared further, "Every one of my children that survived that are living miracle. How many bullet holes were fired into that vehicle… at that horrific scene and how many children were involved. It's amazing... It's beyond amazing that they survived."

Woolley's sister Karen, who is Dawna's mother, emotionally stated to Reuters then, "I can still hear her talking, saying 'Hi Mom, good morning!' You know? She will truly be missed, missed, missed." The victims' families later sued the Juarez cartel for the ambush in Mexico because of their public criticism and demonstrations against the group. A federal judge in North Dakota ruled in July 2022 that the Juarez cartel owed the victim's families $1.5 billion. Under the federal Anti-Terrorism Act, the award made by U.S. Magistrate Judge Clare Hochhalter was automatically tripled, amounting to $4.6 billion.

Editor's note: This article was originally published on January 19, 2024. It has since been updated.