Two of the four Americans kidnapped in Mexico found dead

First modification: 03/08/2023 – 11:12

With Cristóbal Vásquez, RFI correspondent in Washington, and AFP

Of the four victims of the kidnapping of US citizens “two of them are dead, one person is injured and the other is alive.” This was stated by the governor of Tamaulipas, Américo Villarreal, at a press conference.

The four Americans entered the border city of Matamoros, Mexico, from Brownsville, Texas, in a white minivan with South Carolina license plates when gunmen began shooting at their vehicle, the FBI said. The gunmen then loaded the Americans into another vehicle and took them away.

Mexican authorities are considering several theories about the attack, including that the Americans were mistaken for Haitian immigrant smugglers.

However, the Americans traveled from South Carolina to Mexico to accompany a friend to get a tummy tuck, since cosmetic surgeries are cheaper in Mexico.

John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, told reporters from the White House that the United States was working with Mexico to obtain more information about the Matamoros kidnapping and that “the four victims will return to the United States very soon.”

Identity of the kidnapped

One of the survivors, identified only as Eric N., suffered a gunshot wound to the leg, while a woman (Latavia N.) escaped unharmed, the governor said during a press conference with the high command of the Armed Forces in Ciudad from Mexico.

The US media identified them as Latavia Washington McGee and Eric James Williams.

The names of the deceased have not yet been released.

A man in charge of watching over the victims was detained where they were being held captive, a wooden house in a suburban area of ​​Matamoros.

The handover of the survivors occurred in the midst of a vast device that involved some 20 vehicles including ambulances and vans from security agencies.

Mexican authorities believe the kidnappers belong to the Gulf Cartel and have mistaken the Americans for enemies.

“The line (investigative) is being strengthened that it was a confusion, it was not a direct aggression. That is the line that we now have as the most viable and surely it is the most correct,” said the Tamaulipas prosecutor, Irving Barrios, in the same conference.

However, he clarified that all the hypotheses remain open.

Matamoros is one of the towns hardest hit by violence linked to drug trafficking and other forms of organized crime.