Trump, Vance meet with family of Marine veteran killed off Mexican highway by suspected cartel members

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Former President Donald Trump and running mate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, met with the family of the U.S. Marine veteran who was killed along a Mexican highway by suspects believed to be cartel members earlier this month. 

Nicholas Douglas Quets, a 31-year-old Marine veteran who worked for Pima County, Arizona, on water reclamation projects, was shot and killed along the Caborca-Altar Highway in northern Mexico on Oct. 19. 

His family said Quets was driving with friends down to Rocky Point for a beach trip. The shooting happened approximately 30 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border. 

The Sonora Attorney General's Office said a vehicle pulled up alongside Quets' pick-up truck and opened fire in a "direct attack," according to KVOA. An armed group had tried to stop Quets' truck at an illicit checkpoint and followed after them when they did not pull over, a Sonora official confirmed to Tucson.com. 

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Former President Donald Trump, center, met the family of slain Marine veteran Nicholas Douglas Quets while on the campaign trail in Arizona. (Doug Quets/Facebook)

Quets' father and brother-in-law described to the Washington Examiner private meetings the family had with Trump and Vance last week while the Republican running mates were campaigning in Arizona. 

"I did not know what to expect because he’s a TV star, billionaire, populist," Quets' father, retired Army Lt. Col. Warren Douglas Quets, told the Examiner. "He looked at me, looked at the picture of Nick. He had a tear in his eye, and said, ‘Tell me what happened.’ And he was actually angry as we told him the story…. He said, ‘Tell me what I can do for you and your family.'" 

Quets' father said the family has not heard from any elected officials in the Biden-Harris administration. 

"A U.S. military veteran transiting Mexico was executed and four days into this and no official, outside of the consulate in Mexico, has made any effort to contact us or provide us with an update of what’s happening," the elder Quets told the Examiner last week. "What we want is an investigation and prosecution within the United States. We want the U.S. to take over the prosecution." 

"If my case for my son is not worthy of the highest level of attention from the U.S. government, then what is?" he added. "How can this be that this Marine gets killed 30 minutes south of the border?" 

"I haven’t heard from anybody, elected or appointed government officials, at all," he added. "And I begged for that to the point where, yesterday, I wrote the consul and said, ‘Don’t worry about it anymore. I’m going to go ahead and contact [President Claudia Sheinbaum] in Mexico and ask for her help in getting the U.S. involved.'"

Marine veteran Nicholas Douglas Quets was shot and killed while driving in northern Mexico down to the beach with friends. (KOLD/ Quets Family?)

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"I have no doubt in my mind that the President of the United States was briefed on Saturday morning in his presidential brief that a United States Marine veteran was killed in Mexico. I have no doubt," Quets' brother-in-law and best friend, retired Air Force Capt. Philip Sweet, told the Examiner.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Harris campaign for comment on Sunday but did not hear back. 

"We can confirm the death of U.S. citizen Nicholas Douglas Quets in Mexico," a State Department spokesperson said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital. "We extend our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased. Out of respect for the privacy of the family and loved ones during this difficult time, we have no further comment." 

Trump met with the Quets family and posed for a photograph with the slain veteran's portrait in Tempe, Arizona, last week. 

Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance speaks during a campaign rally at TYR Tactical in Peoria, Arizona, on Oct. 22, 2024. (REBECCA NOBLE/AFP via Getty Images)

Vance, a fellow Marine veteran, met with the Quets family in Tucson before mentioning the veteran by name on stage. 

"Over the next couple of weeks, we all need to work to apply pressure on the cartels who murdered this innocent, young Marine and try to put pressure on Kamala Harris to do something about it," Vance told the crowd. 

"Here is my solemn promise to you, while you’ve been ignored, by your own government in the last four days in the midst of this unbelievable tragedy," Vance said. "I promise you, the cavalry is coming, and when Donald Trump is president, we’re going to kick the cartels’ a--es and we’re going to do it for you and for every person in this room."

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Quets' father recalled the family's private meeting with Vance beforehand, telling the Examiner, "[Vance] says, ‘You’re talking to me as JD. I want you to tell me exactly what I need to know, and I want you to tell me how I can help you. That’s what he said. So it was a really classy move, and it was sincere."

"As an apolitical guy, you want the best for the country, which is what I’ve devoted my life to," he added. "I left the meeting thinking I was ready to follow Vance any place."

"My family feels more comfort in this horrible, horrific event that we’ve been dealing with," Sweet told the Examiner. "To feel comfort from somebody that we’ve never met, but felt like he was a member of our family, and he cared about us, truly cared about us."