CNN Wire Staff

(CNN) - Federal and state authorities in Mexico held an eight-hour, "in-depth" interview with the wife of an American reportedly shot dead by gunmen investigators believe are linked to a Mexican drug gang, a U.S. spokesman confirmed Saturday.

Tiffany Hartley - who says her husband, David, was shot September 30 on a lake that straddles the U.S.-Mexican border - is "fully cooperating in assisting Mexican prosecutors with their investigation," said Brian Quigley, spokesman for the U.S. Consulate in Matamoros, Mexico.

The interview Friday with officials from the federal attorney general's office and the prosecutors in the state of Tamaulipas was held in the FBI field office in McAllen, Texas. It took place the day after Mexican authorities suspended the search for David Hartley.

"Mexican authorities told the U.S. consulate that the suspension of the search was only temporary and would continue at a later date," Quigley said. "We are going to hold them to that."

Earlier, Cynthia Young, Tiffany Hartley's mother, said that she, her daughter and Hartley's father met with Mexican and American officials on Friday.

Young said the family was told that the Mexican government was "restrategizing" how it is handling the search for Hartley's body.

Young said that the day mostly entailed Tiffany Hartley refiling a witness statement with Mexican officials, recounting what happened on the day she said he was killed.
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