Americans were kidnapped in Mexico, 2 kidnapped Americans were found dead, while the other 2 were still alive.
Americans were kidnapped in Mexico, 2 kidnapped Americans were found dead, while the other 2 were still alive.
The Americans who had been abducted on Friday were still missing as of Sunday, according to the FBI's report. They flew from South Carolina together, according to a cousin of one of them, so that one of them might receive a belly tuck from a Matamoros physician.
On Friday, they were caught in the crossfire of opposing criminal organizations shortly after entering Mexico. Gunmen may be seen loading them into the back of a pickup truck in a video.
In a white minivan with North Carolina license plates, the four were driving on Friday. The FBI claimed in a statement on Sunday that they came under fire shortly after arriving in the city of Matamoros from Brownsville, which is located at the southernmost point of Texas close to the Gulf coast, very.
Armed individuals "took all four Americans from the site in a vehicle," according to the FBI. For the safe return of the abducted people and the capture of their captors, the bureau is offering a $50,000 reward.
Zalandria Brown of Florence, South Carolina, claimed that since learning that her younger brother, Zindell Brown, is one of the four victims, she has been in touch with the FBI and local authorities.
In a phone interview, she stated, "This is like a bad dream you wish you could wake up from. "It is just awful to see a member of your family being placed in the back of a truck and dragged."
Zalandria Brown claimed that a third acquaintance who was traveling to Mexico for a belly tuck had been accompanied by her brother, who resides in Myrtle Beach, as well as two other friends. In Matamoros, a doctor who promotes such operations did not return calls requesting comment.
According to Brown, the group was very tight and they all went on the trip to share out the driving responsibilities. She continued that they were aware of the risks in Mexico and that her brother had expressed some reservations.
Zindell continued urging against going down, Brown recalled.
In a video shared on social media on Friday, four people were being loaded into the bed of a white pickup truck in broad daylight by guys wearing tan body armor and carrying assault guns. The others appeared to be either dead or injured, but one was still alive and sitting up. Before being carried to the vehicle, at least one individual appeared to lift his head off the pavement.
The image exemplifies the dread that has long reigned in
Matamoros, a city controlled by rival sections of the huge Gulf drug gang.
Thousands of Mexican citizens have vanished in Tamaulipas state alone due to the violence.
Without providing further information, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador stated on Monday that "there was a confrontation between factions, and they were imprisoned". Initially, he claimed that the four Americans traveled to Mexico to purchase drugs.
According to Irving Barrios, the top prosecutor for Tamaulipas, a Mexican woman perished in the killings on Friday. He didn't say if the shooting that led to her death also resulted from the kidnapping.