Two of the four Americans who were shot at by gunmen and kidnapped shortly after they crossed the border into northern Mexico for a medical procedure last week are dead, and the two survivors are back on U.S. soil, Mexican and U.S. officials said Tuesday.
Tamaulipas state Gov. Américo Villarreal said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon that a woman and a man had survived the kidnapping. The woman, whom Villarreal identified only as LaTavia, was unharmed. The man, whose first name is Eric, had a gunshot wound to the leg, Villarreal said.
Both were taken to a clinic for medical treatment and returned to the U.S. by an international 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, Villarreal said. The charges against the man were unclear.
Villarreal announced the casualties by phone at a news conference Tuesday morning.
At a State Department briefing Tuesday, spokesperson Ned Price confirmed the survivors had returned to the U.S., adding, "We are in the process of working to repatriate the remains of the two Americans who were killed in this incident." He said the U.S. is providing assistance to the victims and their families.
What we know about the discovery of the victims
The Americans were found Tuesday morning in a wooden house close to an area called La Lagunona in Matamoros, Villarreal said Tuesday.
Attorney General Irving Barrios Mojica tweeted that the Americans were found by “joint search actions.”
Villarreal said the Americans had been transported to various places, including a clinic, “to create confusion and to interrupt the rescue work.”
An investigation to catch other suspects continues, he said.
Earlier Tuesday, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador offered his sympathies to the victims.
“We are very sorry that this happened in our country, and we send our condolences to the families of the victims, friends and the United States government, and we will continue doing our work to guarantee peace and tranquility," he said.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland offered his condolences and said the Justice Department is “working closely” with the State Department.
A trip for medical care gone wrong
The FBI had been offering a $50,000 reward for the safe return of the U.S. citizens, who were kidnapped Friday after having driven into Matamoros, just south of Brownsville.
Dramatic video showing a gunman dragging people into a white pickup captured the kidnapping as it unfolded, a law enforcement source with knowledge of the matter confirmed.
One of the victims was identified as LaTavia Washington McGee by her cousin, Aliyah McCleod, who is acting as a family spokesperson.
On Tuesday, LaTavia's mother, Barbara Burgess, confirmed her daughter is alive and said she has spoken with her.
McCleod also identified another member of the group as Shaeed Woodard.
FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision
FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane
FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision
FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane
Eric Williams' wife said he was kidnapped and shot in the leg before he returned to the U.S. on Tuesday.
Williams' Michelle Williams said she was thankful that her husband and McGee were coming home but added that she was "heartbroken that the other two families can't say the same."
She described the group as childhood friends.
McCleod said the group is from South Carolina and had been traveling in a rental vehicle with North Carolina license plates when it entered Matamoros. The FBI confirmed 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 woman in the group had been seeking a cosmetic medical procedure. The official said cartel gunmen 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 four victims. She said she had been in contact with the FBI and local officials after she learned her sibling had been kidnapped.
“This is like a bad dream you wish you could wake up from,” she told the news agency. “To see a member of your family thrown in the back of a truck and dragged, it is 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 her brother had some reservations about their making the trip because of the potential dangers in Mexico.
“Zindell kept saying, ‘We shouldn’t go down,’” Brown told the AP.
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said at a news briefing Monday in Washington that the Biden administration was "closely following the assault and kidnapping of four U.S. citizens."
"These sorts of attacks are unacceptable," Jean-Pierre said.
"We will continue to coordinate with Mexico and push them to bring those responsible to justice," she said.
Ken Salazar, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, said in a statement Monday that an “innocent Mexican citizen was tragically killed” in the kidnapping.
López Obrador said at a news conference that the Americans were in Mexico to buy medicine, a common practice for people seeking cheaper medications across the southern border.
A “Do Not Travel” for Tamaulipas state the State Department issued because of “crime and kidnapping" says organized crime activity, including gunbattles, armed robberies and kidnappings, are common along the border and in Ciudad Victoria.
“Criminal groups target public and private passenger buses, as well as private automobiles traveling through Tamaulipas, often taking passengers and demanding ransom payments,” the warning says.
