Two of the four Americans who were kidnapped in Mexico by a drug cartel last month are speaking out for the first time about the horrific ordeal that left two of their group dead. They shared they told the gunmen that they were “brothers and sisters” and that’s when they tried to force them to have sex. Everything inside…
Two of the four people who were kidnapped by a drug cartel in Mexico in early March are speaking out for the first time about the horrific ordeal that left two of their group dead. On March 3rd, four U.S. citizens were kidnapped by armed men as they drove into Matamoros, Mexico, in the north-eastern state of Tamaulipas, just across the border from Texas.
LaTavia Washington McGee and Eric Williams were traveling with Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown to a medical appointment in Matamoros when they were ambushed by armed men who opened fire on their vehicle. It was previously reported LaTavia traveled to Matamoros for cosmetic surgery.
Investigators believe that the Americans were mistaken for Haitian drug smugglers, and the two survivors have now spoken to CNN about their experience.
“They didn’t deserve that. None of us deserved what happened. It’s going to take a lot of time for us to heal, but we’re grateful to be alive,” said LaTavia Washington McGee in an interview with Anderson Cooper on CNN, which was conducted on Tuesday.
The attack happened in broad daylight, and after a car horn sounded behind them, Zindell saw a gun and warned the others not to stop the car. “Zindell and Shaeed, they jumped up to run and they were gunned down,” Eric said.
Eric was shot in both legs, and LaTavia was forced into the bed of a pickup truck at gunpoint, while the others were carried onto it. Video of the armed men putting them in a pickup truck at gunpoint went viral on social media.
An innocent Mexican bystander was also killed during the encounter after being hit by a stray bullet.
Eric and LaTavia were then taken to several different locations over the days they spent in captivity. At one point, they were taken to a clinic, where Eric described his leg being stitched up on a piece of wood, without any pain medicine or checks to see if a bullet was still inside. Ouch!
LaTavia was put in a room with Zindell, who was badly wounded and dying. “He was fighting for his life and they didn’t do nothing,” she said. “I talked to him the whole time…He was like, ‘It’s okay. I’m your brother. I’m supposed to be there for you. I love you.’”
The kidnappers told Eric and LaTavia that they would take Zindell to a hospital, but “they came back maybe an hour later and he was dead,” LaTavia shared.
“He was like, ‘There’s nothing that we can do to bring your two brothers back. But we’re sorry. Somebody made the wrong call. They was high and drunk,’” LaTavia recalled the man saying.
She said one of the gunman was looking at something on his phone and she asked, “Is that us?” and he responded, “Yes.” She asked to see the video and he showed her the video of them being kidnapped.
”I just started crying,” she said. At that time, she thought the video was just circulating in Mexico and didn’t know it had reached the United States.
Being the only woman, Anderson asked her if she was sexually assaulted and that’s when they revealed the gunman tried to make them have sex with one another.
“They tried to make us have sex with each other, but we told them we were brothers and sisters, and that she was pregnant,” Eric said.
“They were like, ‘What are y’all?,'” LaTavia said. “We said, ‘brothers and sisters.’ And they were like ‘Have sex with each other.’ And I was like, ‘No. These are my brothers. I’m pregnant.’”
Sick.
The survivors were later blindfolded and taken to a truck, where Eric said his friends’ bodies were then placed on top of him to keep him hidden. They were driven around all night as they heard the sound of guns being cocked. But eventually, they were dropped off at a wooden shack, where LaTavia and Eric were rescued on March 7th.
#LataviaWashington and #EricWiseWilliams, the only two surviving Americans who were kidnapped in #Mexico with two others last Friday were seen being treated by paramedics after they were rescued by the Mexican authorities Tuesday. #MexicoKidnapping pic.twitter.com/Aqu9iYRLwt
— The North Carolina Beat (@TheNCBeat) March 7, 2023
The survivors and the bodies of their friends were brought back to the U.S.
Watch their interview below:
We hope they find peace following this horrific ordeal. We can’t imagine what they went through and what they’re still going through.
Photo: CNN Video Screenshots
