4 US citizens missing after being assaulted and kidnapped in Matamoros, Mexico, FBI says

[Gefn]

Four US citizens were assaulted and kidnapped after crossing the border into northeastern Mexico on Friday, according to the FBI, which is working to locate the missing Americans.

Soon after the US citizens drove into the border city of Matamoros, Mexico, on Friday they were fired upon by unidentified gunmen, a release from the FBI in San Antonio said. The agency did not identify the victims.

“All four Americans were placed in a vehicle and taken from the scene by armed men,” the release said.

The US citizens were driving a white minivan with North Carolina license plates, according to the FBI.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/06/americas/fbi-mexico-kidnapping-us-citizens/index.html

[Gefn]

Breaking

[mountaineer]

I just heard this on the news. At this point, Americans in Mexico don't seem to be any safer than Americans in Yemen or Iran. In other words, don't go!!!

[rangerrebew]

Four US citizens kidnapped by armed men after crossing border into Mexico, FBI says
Story by Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY • 1h ago
 
The Americans came under gunfire from the men shortly after crossing the border on Friday through the city of Matamoros, in the Tamaulipas state, across from Brownsville, Texas, the FBI announced Sunday.

The victims crossed into Mexico driving a white minivan with North Carolina license plates, the FBI said. Shortly after, the gunmen fired upon the passengers in the vehicle, and the four Americans were placed in another vehicle and taken from the scene by the men.

Start the day smarter. Get all the news you need in your inbox each morning.

Law enforcement has not released the names of those who they said were kidnapped.


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/four-us-citizens-kidnapped-by-armed-men-after-crossing-border-into-mexico-fbi-says/ar-AA18hrRT?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=9c9f01482b6943e685c7d18825267e2b&ei=21

[mystery-ak]

topics merged

[mystery-ak]

 March 7, 2023 10:16am EST
Two of the four Americans kidnapped in Mexico are dead, two alive: report
Video emerged Monday showing the Americans being loaded into the back of a white truck
By Michael Lee | Fox News

Two of the four American citizens kidnapped in Mexico are dead while the other two remain alive, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing the governor of Tamaulipas.

Dramatic video shows the moment four Americans were kidnapped shortly after crossing into Mexico, in what authorities have called a case of mistaken identity.

The video of the violent incident shows armed men in body armor dragging one person across the pavement and pushing a woman into the bed of a white truck, then dragging two more men who appear to be wounded across the pavement and loading them into the bed of the same truck.

Photos from the scene show a white minivan with North Carolina plates riddled with bullet holes shortly after the kidnappings, with a woman who reportedly witnessed the attack telling the Associated Press she saw the minivan collide with another vehicle before hearing gunfire and seeing armed men approach the van.

"All of a sudden they (the gunmen) were in front of us," said the woman, who declined to be identified for fear of retaliation. "I entered a state of shock, nobody honked their horn, nobody moved. Everybody must have been thinking the same thing, ‘If we move they will see us, or they might shoot us.’"

more
https://www.foxnews.com/world/two-the-four-americans-kidnapped-mexico-are-dead-two-alive-report

[mystery-ak]

Gulf Cartel Cell Kills Two Americans, Two More Missing in Mexican Border City

U.S. and Mexican law enforcement confirm that two of four U.S. citizens abducted in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, were killed by a Gulf Cartel cell. Breitbart Texas has confirmed through local authorities the identity of the crime boss responsible for the case. The fates of the other two Americans remain unclear. Breitbart Texas confirmed that both the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations are working with Mexican authorities to locate the missing individuals.

more
https://www.breitbart.com/border/2023/03/07/gulf-cartel-cell-kills-two-americans-two-more-missing-in-mexican-border-city/

[catfish1957]

The Cartels stepped in this one big time.  Their example of mistaken identiy is going to have rippling waves of economic impact for Matamoras and other border , bad PR with the locals (for them) and reprucussions from this side of the Rio Grande.

I am guessing this is attention they did not want or need.

[Elderberry]

9News

Two of the four Americans kidnapped by armed gunmen in a Mexico border city on Friday were found dead and two were found alive, Mexican officials have said.

In a phone call with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador that was played at a news conference on Tuesday, Tamaulipas Governor Américo Villarreal Anaya said "ambulances and security personnel" were now attending to and giving medical support to the survivors.

The four Americans were found 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.

amaulipas 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 bodies of the two citizens will be examined by Mexican authorities prior to being turned over to the US government, a source familiar with the investigation told CNN. After a coroner in Mexico completes their forensic examination to determine the cause of death, the remains are expected to be repatriated back to the US, the source said.

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 travelling 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.

More: https://www.9news.com.au/world/mexico-kidnapping-two-americans-found-dead-two-alive/6ea6fe61-9c44-47ce-b85c-7a5841299d70

[Elderberry]

Two Mexican kidnapping survivors return to US: report

https://nypost.com/2023/03/07/two-mexican-kidnapping-survivors-reportedly-return-to-us/

The two American citizens who were found alive Tuesday after being kidnapped at gunpoint during cartel crossfire in Mexico have returned to the US, sources said.

Just hours after the pair were reportedly found at a clinic in the northeastern border city of Matamoros, a source familiar with the investigation told CNN they would receive medical care at a hospital in Texas.

One of the survivors, who are said to be a man and a woman, is seriously injured, sources said.

The bodies of the two who were killed will be examined by Mexican authorities before being repatriated to the US, the outlet reported.

The shocking tragedy unfolded Friday, when Latavia “Tay” McGee, Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown and Eric James Williams were abducted by gunmen in broad daylight shortly after they crossed the Texas border into the crime-ridden city of Matamoros.

More at link.

[LadyLiberty]

I hope one of the survivors was the "mother of six."  Some sources identify the "medical procedure" as a tummy tuck, and others say it was a Brazilian butt lift, and that it was her second time to go south of the border for elective cosmetic surgery.  What a price to pay for something that wasn't necessary for life or quality of life.  So much for saving money through medical tourism.

[mystery-ak]

 March 7, 2023 3:28pm EST
Two Americans who survived Mexico kidnapping are back in US, transported to Texas hospital
The State Department is working to return the bodies of the two deceased victims
By Michael Lee | Fox News

Two Americans who survived a violent kidnapping in Mexico have returned to the United States and have been transported to a hospital in Texas.

"The two survivors have since been repatriated back to the United States," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said at a news conference Tuesday. "That occurred with the assistance of our Mexican partners, with the assistance of our officials in Mexico. We are in the process of working to repatriate the remains of the two Americans who were killed in this incident."

The two surviving Americans were transported in Brownsville, Texas, ambulances with a law enforcement escort over the Veterans International Bridge and were seen leaving the bridge on the U.S. side of the border. From there, the two were taken to Valley Regional Medical center in Brownsville to receive treatment, according to NBC News.


An American woman, abducted in Mexico last week, sits inside an ambulance after she was found alive in Ejido Longoreno, on the outskirts of Matamoros, Mexico, Tuesday, March 7, 2023.  (AP Photo)

more
https://www.foxnews.com/world/two-americans-who-survived-mexico-kidnapping-back-us-transported-texas-hospital

[GtHawk]

 
Investigators believe the Americans were targeted by a Mexican cartel that likely mistook them for Haitian drug smugglers,

I really can't believe that anyone thinks going to Mexico is a good idea, The last time twenty years ago(and I mean it was the last time) my daughter and SIL went to what was supposed to be a safe tourist city my SIL was drugged but they were both able to get to their room before he passed out. More recently the couple who clean for my mom went back to their hometown in Mexico and things were so bad they feared for their lives.

[mystery-ak]

 Mexico’s Gulf Cartel turns over 5 members tied to Americans’ deadly kidnapping
By Olivia Land   
March 9, 2023 3:42pm

A secretive faction of Mexico’s notorious Gulf Cartel apologized and turned in five members who they say are responsible for the broad-daylight kidnapping that killed two Americans last week.

The cartel’s Scorpions group said it “decided to turn over those who were directly involved and responsible in the events” related to the March 3 abduction of four Americans in the border city of Matamoros, according to a letter leaked to the Associated Press by a Tamaulipas state law enforcement source.

The letter also claimed the five members “acted under their own decision-making and lack of discipline” when they attacked victims Latavia “Tay” McGee, Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown and Eric James Williams.

McGee and Williams were found injured but alive in a dingy shack on Tuesday after a four-day search. Woodard and Brown, however, had been shot dead.





The ambush, the letter states, went against the Gulf Cartel’s policy of “respecting the life and well-being of the innocent.”

The Tamaulipas source also showed the outlet a photograph of the five implicated men lying bound and face-down on the pavement.

more
https://nypost.com/2023/03/09/gulf-cartel-turns-over-5-members-tied-to-americans-kidnapping/

[Kamaji]

Old school mafiosi style.