A member of the Mexican security forces stands next to a white minivan with North Carolina plates and several other bullet holes, on the crime scene where gunmen kidnapped 4 U.S. residents who crossed into Mexico from Texas, Friday, March 3, 2023. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the 4 Americans were going to purchase medicine and were caught within the crossfire between two armed groups after they’d entered Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas, on Friday.Â
AP
Two of the 4 Americans who were shot at by gunmen and kidnapped shortly after crossing the border into northern Mexico for a medical procedure last week are dead, and the 2 survivors are back on American soil, Mexican and U.S. officials said Tuesday.
Tamaulipas state Gov. Américo Villarreal said in a news conference Tuesday afternoon a lady and a person had survived the kidnapping. The lady, identified by the governor only as LaTavia, was unharmed. The person, whose first name is Eric, had a gunshot wound to the leg, Villarreal said.
Each were taken to a clinic for medical treatment and returned to the U.S. by a world bridge between Matamoros, Mexico, and Brownsville, Texas, before noon Tuesday, he said.
A 24-year-old man from Tamaulipas, identified only as Jose N, “was found guarding the victims” and arrested, in response to Villarreal. The fees against the person were unclear.
The governor announced the casualties by phone at a presidential news conference Tuesday morning.
At a State Department briefing Tuesday, spokesperson Ned Price confirmed the survivors had returned to the U.S., adding “we’re within the means of working to repatriate the stays of the 2 Americans who were killed on this incident.” He said the U.S. is providing assistance to the victims and their families.Â
What we all know concerning the discovery of the victims
The Americans were found Tuesday morning in a picket house near an area called La Lagunona in Matamoros, Villarreal said Tuesday. Â
Attorney General Irving Barrios Mojica tweeted that the Americans were found by “joint search actions.”
Villarreal said the Americans had been transported to numerous places, including a clinic “to create confusion and to interrupt the rescue work.”
An investigation continues to catch other suspects involved within the case, he said. Â
Earlier Tuesday, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador offered his sympathies to the victims.
“We’re very sorry that this happened in our country, and we send our condolences to the families of the victims, friends, and the USA government, and we are going to proceed doing our work to ensure peace and tranquility,” he said.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department is “working closely” with the State Department and offered his condolences.Â
A visit for medical care gone unsuitable
The FBI had been offering a $50,000 reward for the protected return of the U.S. residents.
The group was kidnapped Friday after driving into Matamoros, Tamaulipas, just south of Brownsville, Texas.
Dramatic video showing a gunman dragging people right into a white pickup captured the kidnapping because it unfolded, a law enforcement source with knowledge of the matter confirmed.
One in every of the victims was identified as LaTavia Washington McGee by her cousin, Aliyah McCleod, who’s acting as a family spokesperson.
On Tuesday, LaTavia’s mother, Barbara Burgess, confirmed her daughter is alive and said she’s spoken together with her.Â
McCleod also identified one other member of the group as Shaeed Woodard.
Mexican Natioanla Guard prepare a search mission for 4 U.S. residents kidnapped by gunmen at Matamoros, Mexico, Monday, March 6, 2023. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the 4 Americans were going to purchase medicine and were caught within the crossfire between two armed groups after they’d entered Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas, on Friday.Â
Eric Williams’ wife said he had been kidnapped and was shot within the leg before he returned to the U.S. Tuesday.
McCleod said the group is from South Carolina and had been traveling in a rental vehicle with North Carolina license plates after they entered Matamoros. The FBI confirmed that the group was traveling in a white minivan with North Carolina plates.
McCleod said the group had traveled to Mexico for a “medical procedure.”
A law enforcement official with knowledge of the matter said a lady within the group had been in search of a cosmetic medical procedure. The official said cartel gunmen had targeted the group in a case of mistaken identity.
Zalandria Brown of Florence, South Carolina, told The Associated Press that her younger brother, Zindell, was among the many 4 victims. She said she had been in touch with the FBI and native officials after learning her sibling had been kidnapped.
“This is sort of a bad dream you want you would get up from,” she told the news agency. “To see a member of your loved ones thrown at the back of a truck and dragged, it’s just unbelievable.”
Brown said her brother, who lives in Myrtle Beach, had been on the trip to accompany a friend who was traveling to Mexico for a procedure.
She also said that her brother had some reservations about them making the trip due to the potential dangers in Mexico.
“Zindell kept saying, ‘We shouldn’t go down,'” Brown told the AP.
At a news briefing in Washington on Monday, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said the Biden administration was “closely following the assault and kidnapping of 4 U.S. residents.”
“These kinds of attacks are unacceptable,” she said.
“We’ll proceed to coordinate with Mexico and push them to bring those responsible to justice,” Jean-Pierre said.
Ken Salazar, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, said in a press release Monday that an “innocent Mexican citizen was tragically killed” in the course of the kidnapping.
President López Obrador said at a news conference that the Americans were in Mexico to purchase medicine, a standard practice for people in search of cheaper medications across the southern border.
The State Department has a “Do Not Travel” warning in place for Tamaulipas state on account of “crime and kidnapping.” It said organized crime activity, including gun battles, armed robberies and kidnappings, are common along the border and in Ciudad Victoria.
“Criminal groups goal private and non-private passenger buses, in addition to private automobiles traveling through Tamaulipas, often taking passengers and demanding ransom payments,” the warning says.
— Matteo Moschella and Rima Abdelkader contributed.
