Laura Gamba
07 March 2023•Update: 07 March 2023
BOGOTA, Colombia
Two US citizens from a group of four who were kidnapped Friday by armed men in Mexico were found dead, with two alive, Tamaulipas Governor Americo Villarreal Anaya said Tuesday in a telephone call with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
“It was fully confirmed by the Prosecutor's Office: of the four, two of them are dead, one injured and one alive," Villareal told Lopez Obrador on the loudspeaker in the presence of journalists who attended the president's news conference.
Latavia “Tay” Washington McGee, Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown and their friend Eric, a group of friends from South Carolina, had traveled to Mexico for medical reasons when they were shot and kidnapped, Lopez Obrador said Monday. “There was a confrontation between groups, and they were detained."
Video footage showed the group was driving through Matamoros in a white vehicle with license plates from the state of North Carolina when unidentified gunmen opened fire before taking the Americans from the scene.
The Mexican president said he was in contact with the governor about the kidnappings.
"I think it will get resolved," he said. "That's what I hope.”
US Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar said in a statement the Americans were kidnapped at gunpoint and an innocent Mexican woman died in the attack.
Families of the victims had asked the public to help share information with authorities and the FBI had announced a $50,000 reward for their return.
Matamoros, in the state of Tamaulipas, is located at the southernmost tip of the US state of Texas near the Gulf coast. According to the US government, hundreds of thousands of Americans cross the border into Mexico each year to receive medical treatment.
The State Department has recommended that American citizens not travel to the state because of crime, kidnappings and violent conflict between armed groups fighting for territory.
