Americans kidnapped in Mexico

Four American citizens were assaulted and kidnapped by unidentified gunmen after crossing into Mexico last week to buy medicine, Mexican officials said ...

[$50,000 reward offered in case] [The FBI is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying those responsible for the assault and kidnapping and is offering a reward of $50,000 for the return of the victims and the arrest of those involved. To see a member of your family thrown in the back of a truck and dragged, it is just unbelievable.” Their parents said they had been abducted by men dressed in police gear identifying themselves as “Hercules,” a tactical security unit in the city. Although Matamoros was once a popular vacation spot and a relatively calm area, the State Department has warned U.S. citizens in Tamaulipas, citing crime and kidnapping there. They were aware of the dangers in Mexico, she added, and her brother had expressed some misgivings. “This is like a bad dream you wish you could wake up from. He said various U.S. The victims crossed into Mexico driving a white minivan with North Carolina license plates, the FBI said. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar said in a statement Monday the Americans were kidnapped at gunpoint and an “innocent” Mexican citizen died in the attack. U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar said in a statement the Americans were kidnapped at gunpoint and an “innocent” Mexican citizen died in the attack.

Four U.S. citizens crossed into Matamoros, in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas just south of Brownsville, Texas, on Friday, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico ...

"Our thoughts are with the families of these individuals, and we stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance." "The FBI is working very closely with other federal partners and Mexican law enforcement agencies to investigate this," he said. "We are closely following the assault and kidnapping of four U.S. citizens into another vehicle and fled the scene with them," according to the embassy. "We're standing ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance. government's most fundamental role," Salazar said. The four Americans have been identified as Latavia "Tay" McGee, Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown and Eric James Williams. In a statement on Monday, U.S. The U.S. These sorts of attacks are unacceptable," Jean-Pierre said. The gunmen herded the four U.S. Burgess called McGee later that day but never heard back, she said.

A search is under way for four US citizens kidnapped in north-eastern Mexico last week after apparently getting caught up in a shootout which left one Mexican ...

The majority of Americans cite cheaper costs as the most common reason to get treatment abroad. "Officials from various US law enforcement agencies are working with Mexican authorities at all levels of government to achieve the safe return of our compatriots." A video posted on social media shows gunmen loading four people on to the bed of a pickup in broad daylight. "I think it will get resolved," Mr López Obrador said. [and offering a $50,000](https://mx.usembassy.gov/fbi-seeks-publics-help-in-locating-u-s-citizens/) (£41,620) reward for information leading to the return of the missing US citizens and the arrests of the kidnappers. President López Obrador said his "entire government" was working to obtain the release of the four US citizens.

Mexican and U.S. authorities said on Monday they were working to find four Americans who were shot at by gunmen in northern Mexico and then kidnapped ...

"Our thoughts are with the families of these individuals and we stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance," she said. The U.S. The four Americans were in a white minivan with North Carolina license plates when they entered Matamoros, Tamaulipas, on Friday, the U.S. ABC News reported the four were Latavia "Tay" McGee, Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown and Eric James Williams. State Department has advised Americans not to travel to Tamaulipas, in part due to the threat of kidnapping. MEXICO CITY, March 6 (Reuters) - Mexican and U.S.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., says border security is a national security matter, and should be considered a bipartisan issue. One of the four Americans who ...

Tamaulipas’ chief prosecutor Irving Barri reported later that a woman died in the shooting, but he did not specify whether she was killed in the same gunfight where the kidnapping took place. Another victim, who she saw move his head, was carried to the truck. Everybody must have been thinking the same thing, ‘If we move they will see us, or they might shoot us.’" [FOUR AMERICANS KIDNAPPED IN MEXICO MAY HAVE BEEN TARGETED UNINTENTIONALLY: REPORT](https://www.foxnews.com/world/four-americans-kidnapped-mexico-may-have-been-targeted-unintentionally-report) "This is like a bad dream you wish you could wake up from," she said in a phone interview with the Associated Press. "I entered a state of shock, nobody honked their horn, nobody moved. "We don’t know what’s what." "All of a sudden they (the gunmen) were in front of us," said the woman, who said she did not wish to be identified due to possible retaliation. "I don’t know which way to go right now," he said. citizens](https://www.foxnews.com/category/us) into the bed of a white pickup in broad daylight. "To see a member of your family thrown in the back of a truck and dragged, it is just unbelievable." [South Carolina,](https://www.foxnews.com/category/us/us-regions/southeast/south-carolina) identified her younger brother, Zindell Brown, as one of the four victims and said she remains in contact with the FBI and local officials.

The agency says their vehicle was fired on after it entered Matamoros, a city home to warring Gulf drug cartel factions.

citizens that this particular part of Mexico is a "Level 4: Do Not Travel," which is the highest-level warning in the U.S. The U.S. Their parents said they had been abducted by men dressed in police gear identifying themselves as "Hercules," a tactical security unit in the violent border city. citizens are swept up in the violence. One person who was sitting up in the street walks under their own power to the pickup. [statement ](https://mx.usembassy.gov/ambassador-salazars-statement-about-kidnapping-incident-in-matamoros/#:~:text=Salazar%20Statement%3A%20%E2%80%9COn%20Friday%2C,Mexican%20citizen%20was%20tragically%20killed.)Monday that the Americans were kidnapped at gunpoint and that an "innocent" Mexican citizen died in the attack. "All four Americans were placed in a vehicle and taken from the scene by armed men," the office said. "There have been two armed incidents between unidentified civilians," the state police said Friday on social media. "Our thoughts are with the families of these individuals and we stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance." officials [confirmed on Monday](https://mx.usembassy.gov/ambassador-salazars-statement-about-kidnapping-incident-in-matamoros/#:~:text=Salazar%20Statement%3A%20%E2%80%9COn%20Friday%2C,Mexican%20citizen%20was%20tragically%20killed.) that a Mexican citizen was killed in the incident. justice agencies were working with their Mexican counterparts to recover the missing U.S. [have been kidnapped](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/americans-kidnapped-mexico-matamoros-border-what-we-know/) after gunmen opened fire on their vehicle in the northern Mexico border city of Matamoros, the FBI said.

Four Americans were assaulted and kidnapped by unidentified armed men in Mexico shortly after crossing the border, the FBI said.

“Our thoughts are with the families of these individuals and we stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance.” official familiar with the investigation told CNN. A search is currently underway to locate the group. Matamoros is located along the U.S.-Mexico border, just across from Brownsville, TX. The FBI, along with federal partners and Mexican law enforcement agencies, are investigating the matter, officials said. [TIME’s Women of the Year 2023](https://time.com/collection/women-of-the-year/?utm_source=roundup&utm_campaign=20230202) [People with Eating Disorders, the Buzz About Ozempic Is a Nightmare](https://time.com/6259572/ozempic-eating-disorders/?utm_source=roundup&utm_campaign=20230202) [Unlikely to Attend King Charles' Coronation](https://time.com/6260313/biden-king-charles-coronation/?utm_source=roundup&utm_campaign=20230202) [TIME Turns 100](https://time.com/collection/a-century-of-impact/?utm_source=roundup&utm_campaign=20230202) White House Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday that President Joe Biden had been informed about the kidnappings and that they are “closely following” the situation. official familiar with the investigation into their whereabouts told CNN. McGee’s mother, Barbara Burgess, and another family member told the outlet that her daughter was accompanied by Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown, and a third friend named Eric but they never arrived for the Friday appointment. Mexico has become an increasingly popular destination for medical tourism.

Authorities were searching Tuesday for four Americans who were shot at by gunmen and kidnapped shortly after crossing the border into Northern Mexico last ...

law enforcement was in touch with Mexican authorities, as were the departments of State and Homeland Security. It said organized crime activity, including gunbattles, armed robbery and kidnappings, are common along the northern border and in Ciudad Victoria. They said cartel gunmen had targeted the group in a case of mistaken identity. “This is like a bad dream you wish you could wake up from,” she told the news agency. McCleod said the group was from South Carolina, but had been traveling in a rental vehicle with North Carolina license plates when they entered Matamoros. She said her family was pleading for the group’s safe return.

Two Americans missing since their violent abduction last week in the northern Mexican border city of Matamoros have been found dead and two others are alive ...

“Right now, our immediate concerns are for the safe return of our citizens, the health and the well-being of those who survived.” “To see a member of your family thrown in the back of a truck and dragged, it is just unbelievable." "This will remind me not to be lax about my safety precautions and to always be mindful of my surroundings." He offered sympathies to the victims and their families.] [Referring generally to the violence that the Mexican drug cartels have wrought, Garland said: "Look, the cartels are responsible for the deaths of Americans. ] [US working with Mexico on investigation] [National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday that the Biden administration is working with Mexico to learn more about the kidnapping.] [Garland says US fighting to 'dismantle and disrupt' cartels] [Attorney General Merrick Garland said Tuesday that he had been briefed on the status of the kidnapped Americans by the FBI, which was working with Mexican authorities along with officials from the Justice and State departments. They were aware of the dangers in Mexico, she added, and her brother had expressed some misgivings. [How did the kidnapping happen?] [The Americans crossed the border in a minivan with North Carolina license plates, according to Mexican officials and Special Agent Oliver Rich, who is in charge of the FBI's San Antonio Division.] [Sometime after, unidentified gunmen fired upon the occupants of the vehicle, and the four Americans were placed in a pickup and taken from the scene by the men.] [A woman driving in Matamoros who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal ] [told The Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/mexico-americans-kidnapped-gulf-drug-cartel-2700637729e8f3a5065005231aa8d4d3?) she witnessed what appeared to be the shooting and abduction. Barrios said the two deceased Americans – identified by authorities as Shaeed Woodard, 33, and Zindell Brown, in his mid-20s – are undergoing autopsies to determine the time and cause of death. The Justice Department will be relentless in pursuing justice on their behalf,” Garland said. They will be returned to the U.S. A 33-year-old woman not linked to the group was killed by a stray bullet, he said.

Four Americans who traveled to Mexico last week to seek health care got caught in a deadly shootout and were kidnapped by heavily armed men who threw them ...

For years, a night out in the city was part of the “two-nation vacation” for spring breakers flocking to Texas’ South Padre Island. Their parents said they had been abducted by men dressed in police gear identifying themselves as “Hercules,” a tactical security unit in the city. “To see a member of your family thrown in the back of a truck and dragged, it is just unbelievable.” “All four Americans were placed in a vehicle and taken from the scene by armed men,” the FBI said. They were aware of the dangers in Mexico, she added, and her brother had expressed some misgivings. siblings disappeared near Matamoros in October 2014 while visiting their father and were later found shot to death and burned. It was not immediately clear how the abductions may have been connected to that violence. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Monday that “there was a confrontation between groups, and they were detained,” without offering details. Another person was carried to the truck but could still move his head. The four were traveling Friday in a white minivan with North Carolina license plates. citizens was wounded and the other was not. Américo Villarreal said that one of the surviving U.S.

A Mexican official says two U.S. citizens missing since their violent abduction Friday in the northern Mexican border city of Matamoros have been found dead ...

Two of the victims appeared to be motionless. Almost immediately several gunmen in tactical vests and toting assault rifles arrived in another vehicle to surround the scene. Amid the violence, thousands of Mexicans have disappeared in Tamaulipas state alone. A relative of one of them said Monday that the group had traveled together from South Carolina so one of them could get a tummy tuck from a doctor in the border city of Matamoros, where Friday’s kidnapping took place. media’s coverage of the missing Americans, accusing them of sensationalism. The surviving Americans were taken to the border near Brownsville, Texas, in a convoy of Mexican ambulances and SUVs, as seen by an Associated Press journalist Tuesday morning.

Emergency medical services and security are responding to the situation, the governor added. The American citizens crossed into Matamoros, in the northeastern ...

The bodies of the two deceased Americans will be transferred to the U.S. The State Department is "in the process" of repatriating the two deceased victims, spokesperson Ned Price said Tuesday afternoon. The surviving victims were transported to the Port of Entry in Brownsville, where they are receiving medical care at a local hospital, the FBI said in a statement Tuesday. The two survivors were found Tuesday morning in a wooden house in the Lagunona area, outside of Matamoros, Mexican officials said at a news conference. officials are in touch with the families. He underwent surgery in Texas for the wounds, she said. Price said, "We thank our Mexican and U.S. citizens into another vehicle and fled," the embassy said. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Tuesday that the Department of Justice will do "everything in our power" to hold those responsible for the attack to account. "Shortly after crossing into Mexico, unidentified gunmen fired upon the passengers in the vehicle," the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City said. One of the deceased was also found inside the house, and the second was found outside it, a source close to the investigation told ABC News.

Latavia “Tay” McGee, Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown and Eric James Williams were abducted at gunpoint last week by unidentified assailants in Matamoros.

[The search for the disappeared points to Mexico’s darkest secrets](https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/mexico-losing-control/mexico-disappeared-drug-war/?itid=lb_losing-control-how-criminal-groups-are-transforming-mexico_1) [The sniper rifles flowing to Mexican cartels show a decade of U.S. It’s one of six Mexican states to which the State Department advises Americans against traveling, citing the risk of crime and kidnapping. Barrios Mojica said they were found during a “joint search.” Mexican officials said the United States had provided intelligence. The following year, gunmen took at least 193 people off buses, bludgeoned them to death and dumped their bodies in dozens of clandestine graves. They leave a trail of what appears to be blood on the ground. The two survivors were returned to the border; Mexican media showed images of what appeared to be a man and a woman receiving treatment in an ambulance. In January, Texas Monthly published a list of the city’s best taquerias. He said that Mexican authorities were “working and cooperating” with their U.S. On Tuesday, Tamaulipas Attorney General Irving Barrios Mojica said the victims were rescued in an area where the Gulf cartel operates. citizens; they want to avoid drawing the ire of the U.S. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said his government will be thorough in its investigation of the kidnapping and killings. There remained no clear explanation for why unarmed Americans who authorities said had no apparent ties to the drug trade would be targeted by organized criminals in Mexico.