According to Mexican and US sources, two of the four Americans kidnapped at gunpoint in Mexico last week are dead, while the other two are alive and have returned to the United States.
On March 3, four US citizens were kidnapped by armed men as they drove into Matamoros, Mexico, in the north-eastern state of Tamaulipas, just across the border from Texas.
According to family in the United States, they travelled there for cosmetic surgery.
One individual, described only as José “N”, 24, from Tamaulipas, has been apprehended.
Tamaulipas Attorney General Irving Barrios Mojica announced in a tweet that the two surviving victims were handed to the US on Tuesday in collaboration with the US embassy in Matamoros.
A heavily armed Mexican military convoy transported them back under armed guard.
The FBI later confirmed that two Americans were discovered deceased and that the other two were sent to American hospitals for treatment.
The agency will also engage with international partners and other law enforcement organizations to “bring those responsible for this horrible and violent act accountable for their crimes,” according to the statement.
Zindell Brown and Shaeed Woodard’s bodies have been recovered and are being repatriated, according to US officials.
According to a US law enforcement source, investigators believe the Gulf Cartel, one of Mexico’s oldest organized criminal groups, is responsible for the attack.
It’s unknown if the Americans were ambushed, mistaken for rival drug smugglers, or trapped in the crossfire of fighting gangs.
According to US State Department sources, the investigation is still in its early stages.
Matamoros is in Tamaulipas state, one of six Mexican states that the US state department warns foreigners not to visit due to “violence and kidnapping”.
