What’s the story on this?

Sad story but in all my time in Mexico, I would never drive or be in a vehicle driving at that time of the night, especially there. It's one thing to be out and about in a club or bar and celebrating late like say in Ixtapa than driving through small towns and little traffic in the middle of the night. And not stopping at a roadblock? Try to do that anywhere and you will likely get shot.

My very first day in Mexico in 1974 found me driving from Acapulco to Zihuatanejo, leaving the Acapulco city limits right around sunset and driving the 2-lane blacktop road with no map, just a vague idea how to get where we were going. That was at the height of the Guerra Sucia when Lucio Cabañas had kidnapped Rubén Figueroa Figueroa, the father of the disgraced governor who was forced to resign in 1996. Around Pie de la Cuesta we hit the first military checkpoint in the middle of nowhere. They said they were looking for guns and drugs, but only gave us a cursory inspection and seeing my mother, younger brother, an afghan hound and me along with a jumble of luggage, they mostly just smiled and waved us through. Dumb gringos driving in dangerous territory at night. Never did that again.