<p>A Mexican prosecutor said beauty queen Maria Susana Flores Gamez fired at army soldiers before she was killed in an armed clash last month in the northwestern state of Sinaloa.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The delegate of the federal Attorney General's Office in Sinaloa, Enrique Feregrino Taboada, told reporters Tuesday that a gunshot residue examination conducted on the 22-year-old woman's body turned up positive.<br /><br />He said the investigation was continuing into four people detained in the wake of the Nov 24 clash, which took place in the town of Mocorito and pitted the soldiers against a cell of the Sinaloa cartel.<br /><br />The shootout occurred when the troops came under fire by a group armed assailants while patrolling the area and repelled the aggression. Two soldiers and a civilian who was driving in the area at the time of the shootout also died in the exchange of gunfire.<br /><br />A man identified as Orzo Ivan Gastelum, suspected leader of the criminal cell and apparently Flores' boyfriend, managed to escape during the firefight. Authorities conducted a test for detecting the presence of gunshot residue on the young woman after an AK-47 rifle was found next to her body following the shootout.<br /><br />Flores won the Sinaloa Woman contest and competed in the Our Sinaloa Beauty contest, which she did not win. This is not the first time that a Mexican beauty queen has been linked to drug traffickers.<br /><br />Laura Elena Zuñiga, who won Our Sinaloa Beauty in 2008, was arrested along with seven men on firearms and money laundering charges Dec 23, 2008, in Zapopan, a city in the western state of Jalisco.<br /><br />The beauty queen was released a few weeks later because prosecutors could not find sufficient evidence to put her on trial.<br /><br />Zuñiga's story inspired director Gerardo Naranjo's 2011 film "Miss Bala".</p>
<p>A Mexican prosecutor said beauty queen Maria Susana Flores Gamez fired at army soldiers before she was killed in an armed clash last month in the northwestern state of Sinaloa.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The delegate of the federal Attorney General's Office in Sinaloa, Enrique Feregrino Taboada, told reporters Tuesday that a gunshot residue examination conducted on the 22-year-old woman's body turned up positive.<br /><br />He said the investigation was continuing into four people detained in the wake of the Nov 24 clash, which took place in the town of Mocorito and pitted the soldiers against a cell of the Sinaloa cartel.<br /><br />The shootout occurred when the troops came under fire by a group armed assailants while patrolling the area and repelled the aggression. Two soldiers and a civilian who was driving in the area at the time of the shootout also died in the exchange of gunfire.<br /><br />A man identified as Orzo Ivan Gastelum, suspected leader of the criminal cell and apparently Flores' boyfriend, managed to escape during the firefight. Authorities conducted a test for detecting the presence of gunshot residue on the young woman after an AK-47 rifle was found next to her body following the shootout.<br /><br />Flores won the Sinaloa Woman contest and competed in the Our Sinaloa Beauty contest, which she did not win. This is not the first time that a Mexican beauty queen has been linked to drug traffickers.<br /><br />Laura Elena Zuñiga, who won Our Sinaloa Beauty in 2008, was arrested along with seven men on firearms and money laundering charges Dec 23, 2008, in Zapopan, a city in the western state of Jalisco.<br /><br />The beauty queen was released a few weeks later because prosecutors could not find sufficient evidence to put her on trial.<br /><br />Zuñiga's story inspired director Gerardo Naranjo's 2011 film "Miss Bala".</p>