Authorities were looking Tuesday for four Americans who were shot by gunmen and kidnapped shortly after crossing the border into northern Mexico last week, as more information about the victims comes to light.
The FBI has offered a $50,000 reward for the safe return of the four Americans, who were kidnapped after driving to Matamoros, Tamaulipas, just south of Brownsville, Texas, on Friday.
Dramatic footage showing a gunman dragging people into a white van captured the kidnapping as it unfolded, a police source with knowledge of the matter confirmed.
Authorities have yet to identify the missing Americans.
One of the victims was identified as LaTavia Washington McGee by her cousin, Aliyah McCleod, who is acting as a spokesperson for the family.
McCleod said the group was from South Carolina but was traveling in a rental vehicle with North Carolina plates when they entered Matamoros. The FBI confirmed that the group was traveling in a white minivan with North Carolina license plates.
McCleod said the group had traveled to Mexico for a «medical procedure.» She said her family was pleading for the group’s safe return.
A law enforcement official with knowledge of the matter said a woman in the group had been seeking a cosmetic medical procedure. They said the cartel gunmen had targeted the group in a case of mistaken identity.
Zalandria Brown of Florence, South Carolina, said The Associated Press that his younger brother, Zindell Brown, was also among the four victims. She said that she had been in contact with the FBI and local officials after learning that her brother had been kidnapped.
“This is like a bad dream that you wish you could wake up from,” he told the news agency. «To see a member of your family thrown in the back of a truck and dragged away, it’s just unbelievable.»
Zalandria Brown said her brother, who lives in Myrtle Beach, had been on the trip to accompany a friend who was traveling to Mexico for a procedure.
Speaking at a news briefing in Washington on Monday, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said the Biden Administration was «closely monitoring the assault and kidnapping of four US citizens.»
“These kinds of attacks are unacceptable,” he said, adding that US law enforcement was in contact with Mexican authorities, as were the Departments of State and Homeland Security.
“We will continue to coordinate with Mexico and press them to bring those responsible to justice,” Jean-Pierre said.
US Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar said in a statement Monday that an «innocent Mexican citizen was tragically killed» during the kidnapping.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador told a daily news conference that the Americans were in the country to buy medicines, which is common practice for people looking for cheaper medicines on the southern border.
The FBI and Mexican law enforcement are investigating, and the FBI is asking the public for information leading to the arrests. Anyone with information is asked to call the San Antonio branch of the FBI at 210-225-6741.
The Department of State has a “not travel” current warning for the state of Tamaulipas due to “crime and kidnapping”. He said organized crime activity, including shootings, armed robberies and kidnappings, are common along the northern border and in Ciudad Victoria.
“Criminal groups target public and private passenger buses, as well as private automobiles traveling through Tamaulipas, often taking passengers and demanding ransom payments,” the warning reads.
