this is "nightline." tonight, ambushed. life and death in the desert. the american families caught in the middle of the mexican drug wars. now returning to the burned-out and bullet-ridden scene of the crime and finding the littlest survivor. >> there was a bullet hole on the canopy on the car seat. we opened the canopy, and the baby was smiling at us. >> were they targeted for terror? plus, diagnosis die sepgs? the young mother telling everyone she had cancer. >> if anyone straight up came to me and said i think you're faking this, i would say okay, you're coming to chemo with me. >> now unraveling what police say was an elaborate hoax.

and stand up for heroes. honoring our wounded warriors and their families. but first, the "nightline" five.

good evening. thanks for joining us. american families mourning after a brutal massacre.

three mothers and six of their children killed. caught up in the crossfire of mexico's drug wars. but also tonight, incredible stories of survivors, including the smalliest of all yaw mass llamas is in mexico. >> reporter: horror in a remote mexican town. >> nita and five of my grandchildren are burnt, shot up. >> reporter: this is the aftermath of a brutal massacre that claimed the lives of three american women and six children, including eight month old twins titus and tee anna. >> i believe they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. >> reporter: they were traveling with their children in three separate vehicles. 17 people in all. the family had plans to sbrat a celebrate a wedding this weekend. traveling south of the u.s. border. this is narco territory.

mexican officials believe they were caught in the cross hairs of cartel violence, saying that a criminal gang confused them with a group aligned with the sinaloa cartel. more than 200 rounds were fired at the women and children. miraculously, some of the children survived, like christina langford's baby. >> after hours and hours of being alone by herself in the car, they were able to find her. >> reporter: one of christina's relatives showed us this video of when baby faith was found. >> i walked around the vehicle and opened the door, and there was a car seat. and there was a bullet hole through the canopy on the car seat. we opened the canopy, and the baby was smilin' at us. >> reporter: one of the vehicles was burned. the remains and her children inside.

>> there's no way you can wrap your head around it. >> reporter: woun one of the re the drug cartels are prevalent is because it's remote. it's not too far from the border. but getting here is difficult. there are never-ending winding roads. the families belonged to a fundamentalist mormon community. they had dual citizenship in the u.s. and mexico. >> i think i'm still in shock that something like this happened to my family, like these are things i see in movies, not in life. >> reporter: relatives say at one point, christina got out of her vehicle with her hands up, but the gunman shot her anyway, point blank in the chest. eight children survived. some thanks to 13 year old devon blake langford who was able to save several siblings who had been shot. >> he hid them in a bush on the side of the road, told them to stay, and he ran all the way back home.

i think they said it was like ten or more miles that he walked. >> reporter: those rescued children were taken vie yeah helicopt helicopter to a hospital in mexico. kendra is the sister-in-law. it was her wedding the families were planning to celebrate this weekend. >> i really can't say enough how horrified i am and we all are at these people that, i mean, that they could commit such horrible atrocities. >> reporter: president trump tweeting if mexico needs or wants help in cleaning out these monsters, the united states stands willing, ready and able to get the job done quickly and effectively. but mexico's president says they will handle this alone, vowing justice. >> i would love for someone to be held accountable. but i don't know that that's going to happen. >> reporter: mexican authorities are honing in on a criminal group. one of the experts we spoke to

say the closest military base is three hours away, and there aren't too many police officers to guard this area, and that's why the cartels feel they can run rampant and do whatever they want. a family member in arizona says she's afraid to travel to mexico for the funerals. >> it's devastating that i can't even be at this funeral for my loved ones. because of the dangerous situation. >> reporter: mormons have a long history in mexico. christina rossetti studies the religion. >> in the 1890s, mormons began traveling to mexico to practice polygamy. >> reporter: most that do aren't affiliated with the lds church in the u.s. >> mormonism has split into different factions and communities. a lot of people have relatives who were at one point in the mexican colonies. and that includes even mitt romney. >> reporter: this week's violence isn't the first time

this family has faced horrible situations as a result of the drug wars. >> in 2009, a man named benjamin labaron was murdered by a cartel. >> reporter: he was an anti-crime activist, killed by a gang of armed men. his brother spoke to the associated press about the increasing cartel violence. [ speaking in spanish ] >> they're all going to be buried in mexico? >> reporter: we caught up with julio as he mourns this new loss. did you ever think the violence would reach this level? >> not really. i don't think anybody can imagine. what kind of men can call themselves men that murder women and children? >> there's been some talk amongst my uncles, amongst my family living here of thinking about moving out. it's starting to escalate. >> reporter: according to justice in mex kpico, a researc initiative, about a third to half of mexico's homicides since

2006 can be attributed to organized crime groups, especially drug trafficking organizations. >> cartels have such a strong presence, it's especially dangerous for americans to go in as tourists. >> reporter: last month, mexican security forces were outgunned by a drug cartel. this body cam shows them pleading with the son of el chapo. >> they're like the government of mexico, sometimes more powerful than the government. we saw a recent example where el chapo's son was released because they feared violence. anytime a government relents and basically says to the bad guys, you're the ones in charge, that's a big problem. >> reporter: last year, my colleague dan harris spent time embedded with the sinaloa cartel. they are largely in control. dan met with the men who believe

they are true authorities here. >> so they are pretty eager to show how well-armed they are. see, that's a grenade. >> reporter: they showed off their weaponry, much of it american made. off to the side, the commander gave dan bracing insights as to what his job actually entails. >> just to be clear, your job entails killing people sometimes. >> reporter: yes, he says. >> does that take a toll on you psychologically? >> reporter: he says the first time it did, but not anymore. i'll never forget the first time. >> reporter: the mexican government has broken up many of the cartels. but that has only fueled the skyrocketing violence with smaller gangs competing to fill the vacuum. >> every couple years, the mexican police find mass graves, hundreds of people buried. there's more mass graves out there of people who are just forgotten victims of the drug war. >> reporter: violence that is a cost for all too many families

having to say good-bye to loved ones. what's your message to the cartels? >> to the cartels? honestly, i don't have a message for the cartels, but i do have a message for the mexican people, there's 120 million of us. we have had so much violence in our country. we need to come together and stop being divided by politics. >> reporter: for "nightline," tom llamas in northwest mexico. up next, she relied on the kindness of strangers. now cops say she duped them with her phony cancer diagnosis. ♪ things are getting clearer, yeah i feel free ♪ ♪ to bare my skin ♪ yeah that's all me. ♪ nothing and me go hand in hand ♪ ♪ nothing on my skin ♪ that's my new plan. ♪ nothing is everything. keep your skin clearer with skyrizi. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months. of those, nearly 9 out of 10 sustained it through 1 year. and skyrizi is 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses.

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when a young mom told everyone she had cancer, people opened opened up their hearts and their wallets. now authorities say the real diagnosis wasn't a deadly disease. it was deception. here's diane macedo. >> reporter: it was the kind of feel-good story that warms your heart. jessica ann smith, a mother and fitness buff said she was battling cancer at just 32 years old but was rallying support, encouraging friends and family to #fight like a jessica. with medical bills piling up, supporters answered the call, raising over $10,000 on go fund my and facebo me and facebook to help. >> people are coming out of the wood work to help. which will restore anyone's faith in humanity. >> reporter: but investigators say it was all a lie, perpetuated by smith to dupe good samaritans into giving herman for a disease she didn't have, a hoax that led to her arrest. >> she made people believe she

had a very serious cancer diagnosis. the fact is, she didn't have cancer. >> reporter: it started in june when smith told friends she was facing a mountain of medical bills while battling colon cancer. donations started pouring in. >> the sad type of these fund raising scams is they are preying upon people's hearts in the most sad and vulnerable ways. and because of our charitablity we become the biggest of victims. >> reporter: her story gained added attention in july when she was invited to speak about her diagnosis on the podcast "the ever evolving truth." >> the doctor is taking my history, as he's looking at my blood work and he's like, i really think you have colon cancer. >> reporter: jeff berg and terry

coleman work with the podcast. >> she was going through this check list, and it was almost too perfect. >> she was very nondestrength with her diagnosis and treatment and used very vague language. >> people have tried to say i'm scamming people. if anyone straight up said i think you're faking this, i would literally say okay you're coming to chemo with me on monday. >> reporter: she reappeared on the podcast four days later, taking aim at the people accusing her of lying. >> here is my fitness for duty form, with the word "cancer" on it. >> reporter: smith stood by her story, but what she didn't know is police were already investigating after her own husband came forward telling them he did not believe his wife had cancer. >> her second interview is where it kind of derailed. we didn't know how we going to find it all the time, but we were like, we can't believe she's actually doing this.

>> reporter: according to police, jessica's story began to unravel, her doctor said those photos which she said were chemotherapy were an iron infusion for anemia. when they tried to verify her claims of having surgery, the doctor smith claimed operated on her wasn't even in the hospital at the time. and that smith was never a patient. >> jessica's worst enemy is herself. on another occasion she went onto the media, proclaiming the sickness of this very rare, hereditary colon cancer. >> reporter: while crowdsourcing websites have raised billions for noble causes around the world, smith is not the first person accused of taking advantage of people's goodwill. >> she's in >> reporter: the bucket list went viral in 2017. her story even made its way to the make-a-wish foundation.

7-year-old olivia died from what her mother claimed was pa rare disease, but authorities say it was all a lie. >> the first child dies. the mother then induces illness on yet another child so she can continue this fraud, continue getting attention. >> reporter: turner was indicted on murder and 11 other charges, including receiving fraudulent medicaid payment and theft associated with a gofundme account. her case is pending. >> i was driving down 95 and ran out of gas. so i pulled over onto the side of the road. >> reporter: and last year, kate mcclure's seemingly heartwarming story went viral. she says she was stranded on the sides of the road when johnny bobbitt spent his last $20 to buy her gas. >> she needed the help, she took the help. >> reporter: with the title "paying it forward", the go fund me page raised more than

$400,000. >> like winning the lottery. >> reporter: but the ruse unravelled in a shocking twist. >> the entire campaign was predicated on a lie. >> reporter: authorities say it was all a coordinated scam from the start. the cover photo on the page staged. they say all three were in on the elaborate hoax. >> they conspired to pass off a fake, feel-good story that would compel donors to contribute the to their cause. >> reporter: mcclure and bobbitt both pled guilty in federal court. >> those three really ruined it for people who really need the help. >> reporter: in her podcast interview, jessica smith criticizes the tree yio, blamin them for making it difficult for those who actually need to raise money, but soon it was smith's fundraisers owing refunds after her efforts were shut down. the fundraiser violated their

terms, they say, and that refunds will be processed for all donors, and go fund me says they will refund all donors. meanwhile, smith is facing separate charges in delaware for criminal impersonation of a law enforcement officer. >> she took advantage of people's generosity, and everyone's worst fear of a cancer diagnosis to get money for herself. >> reporter: for "nightline," diane macedo in new york. up next, a night of hope, celebrating the men and women who answer the call of duty. performance comes in lots of flavors. there's the amped-up, over-tuned, feeding-frenzy-of sheet-metal-kind. and then there's performance that just leaves you feeling better as a result. that's the kind lincoln's about.

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and finally tonight, saluting our heroes. here's abc's stephanie ramos. >> reporter: this is retired army major pete way. he served america proudly for 20 years. while on a tour in afghanistan, he experienced an injury that required a leg amputation. after more than 30 surgeries and physical therapy, it was sports that motivated him, competing in paralympic cross country skiing to mountain biking to push him to bring sports to other veterans, starting a program called "fight on." we are with him for a big night. >> it's nice to be recognized for the hard work i've put in. it's not just for me. it's for everybody. it's for the guys i've been with. in combat, it's for the guys i've been with in recovery to the guys who are still recovering from wounds. >> reporter: pete is headed to madison square garden for the standup for heroes event started

by the bob woodruff organization. it featured a powerful duet with sheryl crow and bruce springsteen, and laughs when john oliver and jon stewart hit the stage. >> we haven't ye years, i know that i look like this now. so don't -- >> reporter: this special night for service members, veterans and their families, like major pete way. >> part of it is that people have to know this is still going on. i mean, because there's not that much reporting, but there are still huge needs for those who have served our country. >> we always think about the petes of the world. and we need to think about the petes of the world, but behind the petes of the world is usually a family. >> reporter: their dedication to the woodruff foundation, raising

more than $5.7 million this year alone. >> i want to say thank you for this, for all that it means and all it's going to do and continue to do for me and my fellow warriors as we continue to recover. >> reporter: a night to honor those who answer america's call. >> our thanks to stephanie r ramos, bob and lee woodruff and all of our veterans. you can always catch our full episodes on hulu. thanks for staying up with us. goodnight, america.