Four U.S. citizens were kidnapped in a brazen attack carried out by multiple gunmen in the northern Mexico border city of Matamoros, the FBI said.
via: CNN
Tamaulipas Gov. Américo Villarreal Anaya said in a phone call with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador that was played at a news conference Tuesday.
The governor said “ambulances and security personnel” were now attending to and giving medical support to the survivors.
The four Americans were located at what appears to be a medical clinic in Matamoros, a US official familiar with the ongoing investigation told CNN. One of the two survivors is severely injured, the official said.
Tamaulipas Attorney General Irving Barrios also confirmed the developments in a tweet.
“Derived from the joint search actions, the four American citizens deprived of their liberty last Friday were found,” he said. “Unfortunately, two dead. Investigation and intelligence work continue to capture those responsible. Details will be given later.”
The news comes days after the group was abducted at gunpoint in Matamoros in what is believed to be a case of mistaken identity.
The four Americans were a tight-knit group of friends traveling from South Carolina to Mexico so one of them – a mother of six – could undergo a medical procedure across the border, two family members told CNN. Once across the border, they were fired upon by unidentified gunmen “placed in a vehicle and taken from the scene by armed men,” according to the FBI.
Investigators believe the Americans were targeted by a Mexican cartel that likely mistook them for Haitian drug smugglers, a US official familiar with the ongoing investigation tells CNN. The US citizens have no concerning criminal history that has been identified by investigators, the official said.
An innocent Mexican bystander was also killed in the encounter, US Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar said.
Latavia “Tay” Washington McGee, 33, drove to Mexico with Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown and their friend Eric Williams for the procedure, but she never made it to her doctor’s appointment on Friday, her mother Barbara Burgess told CNN.
On Sunday, Burgess said she was informed by the FBI that her daughter had been kidnapped and was in danger. “They said, if she calls me, to call them,” she said.
Their abduction highlights the ongoing violence that has plagued some Mexican cities during the long-running Mexican drug war as well as the growing business of “medical tourism.”
Matamoros, a city in the state of Tamaulipas, has a population of more than 500,000 people and is located just across the Rio Grande from Brownsville, Texas. The US State Department has issued a “Level 4: Do Not Travel” advisory for US citizens thinking of going to Tamaulipas, citing crime and kidnapping.
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