Two of the Americans who were kidnapped in the Mexico border city of Matamoros on Friday have been found dead and two others alive found on Tuesday, U.S. and Mexican authorities have revealed.
Americo Villareal Anaya, the governor of the state of Tamaulipas, where the group was ambushed at gunpoint on Friday, March 3, confirmed the news in a phone call with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Tuesday morning, March 7.
He said that one of the survivors was wounded, and that ambulances were ‘rushing to the area to recover them and offer them medical care.’
Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown were reportedly found dead, their bodies will be examined by Mexican authorities prior to their remains being turned over to the US government, a.U.S. official said.
Latavia Washington McGee, a mother of six, and Eric Williams survived the ordeal, according to the official. They were taken to a Texas hospital for treatment and observation.
A Mexican government official said Washington McGee was found uninjured. Williams was shot twice in one leg and once in the other, his wife, Michele Williams, told CNN Tuesday.
López Obrador said later Tuesday that one suspect was in custody, according to the Associated Press.
‘Those responsible will be found and they are going to be punished,’ he said. The FBI has said the U.S. citizens crossed over into Matamoros, Tamaulipas, from Brownsville, Texas, on Friday, driving a white minivan with North Carolina plates.
The FBI said a gunmen fired upon the passengers before moving them into another vehicle and fleeing the scene, sparking a frantic search by law enforcement agencies in both countries.
U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar said ‘an innocent Mexican citizen’ was killed in the attack. The FBI offered a $50,000 reward for their return and the arrest of those involved.
Zalandria Brown told the Associated Press that her brother, Zindell, and two friends had accompanied a third friend to Mexico for a cosmetic surgery procedure known as a tummy tuck.
‘This is like a bad dream you wish you could wake up from,’ she said. ‘To see a member of your family thrown in the back of a truck and dragged, it is just unbelievable.’
Mexican officials now say the group was caught in the crossfire of rival cartel groups, the AP reports.
