LA MORA, Mexico (AP) — After burying some of the nine American women and children slain in a cartel ambush, residents of this town of about 300 are left to come to grips with the fear the attacks inspired among the tightly knit community.

"I do not feel safe here, and I won't, because the truth is we aren't safe here as a community," David Langford said at the funeral for his wife, Dawna Ray Langford.

While the sibling community of Colonia Le Baron has been peaceful since the 2009 murder of one of its members and subsequent installation of a security base, La Mora lacks such a presence — at least until Monday's killings prompted state and federal forces to deploy in the town.

How long they stay could be crucial to its future.