The US and Mexico are trying to find 4 Americans who were kidnapped

Communication with the US Embassy in Mexico after the four kidnapped last week reportedly left behind by a heavily armed convoy

The four Americans who were kidnapped in Mexico last week were extradited to the U.S. soon after noon on Tuesday, as part of a heavily armed Mexican convoy.

This was the second time Washington McGee, a mother of six children, had gone to Mexico for a medical procedure, her mother said. About two to three years ago, Burgess said, her daughter traveled to the country for a surgery.

The FBI informed her on Sunday that her daughter had been kidnapped and was in danger. “They said if she calls me to call them,” she said.

“Given the presumption that they are American citizens, a line of direct communication was established with US authorities to exchange information and dedicated to locating them. Barrios Mojica said that the communications between the State Government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United States Embassy in Mexico are at the highest level.

The Americans were probably mistaken for Haitian drug traffickers by the Mexican drug gang that attacked them, according to a US official familiar with the investigation.

Brown’s sister says she and her brother crossed the border to Mexico for medical procedures, and that Mexican authorities are working to resolve the “misleading incident”

The group of friends, who were bonded “like glue,” grew up together in South Carolina, Brown’s sister Zalandria Brown told CNN. She also said that she and her brother are close to each other. “Zindell is like my son, he is my hip bone.” We’re just tight like that.”

Mexico has become a popular destination for “medical tourism,” attracting travelers who may be seeking cheaper alternatives or medical treatments that are unapproved or unavailable in the US. But the CDC warns the growing trend can carry dangerous risks depending on the destination and facility, including infection and possible post-procedure complications.

An unnamed U.S. official reportedly told CNN that the U.S. citizens had “traveled to the border city of Matamoros for medical procedures,” citing receipts found in the abandoned vehicle.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Monday that the group had crossed the border to “buy medicines” and assured the “whole government” is working to resolve the case.

John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, credited the Justice Department, FBI and Department of Homeland Security for their “swift response to this dreadful incident and for their continued collaboration with Mexican authorities.”

Washington’s aunt told CNN that she and the family searched online for any news related to their travels after they did not hear from their friends by Sunday. Then, the family saw a video McFadden described as showing her niece being kidnapped.

She had blonde hair, McFadden said. She said that she knew her niece’s clothes were from the live video Washington posted to Facebook.

“She is a mother and we need her to come back here for her kids,” she said, adding that Washington McGee’s children range in age from 6 to 18 years old.

CNN investigation into the alleged kidnapping of a woman and a crowd of people at gunpoint in Tamaulipas

A woman and a crowd of people are about to be loaded into a truck. CNN has confirmed the video matches the incident but has not independently confirmed it is the four Americans shown in the video.

Additionally, photos obtained by CNN appear to show fragments of the scene where the situation occurred, including the car believed to have been driven by the Americans crashed with another vehicle before they were taken at gunpoint from the scene.

CNN confirmed the authenticity of the photos with the help of a US official, despite the FBI’s refusal to confirm their authenticity.

There is a woman looking at and sitting next to three people lying on the ground outside a white minivan. All the doors of the van are open. It is unclear whether the four people in the photos are the US citizens.

Several people can be seen lying on the street, when the woman is loaded into the bed of a white pickup truck.

The investigators trying to locate the US citizens and identify those involved in the alleged kidnapping are working to gather footage, collect evidence and take samples for genetic profiles.

A joint task force of federal and state agencies has been created for “processing all the information related to the case” and maintaining constant communication with US officials, Barrios Mojica, the Tamaulipas Attorney General, said.

The FBI is asking for the public’s help in finding and identifying Americans involved in the incident. The reward was for the return of the victims and the arrest of those who committed the crime.

The case for a gun-armed group of Americans in Tamamoros, Mexico, met the Mexican president at a border crossing point

Many parts of Mexico have been terrorized by fights between feuding drug cartels for years, and the state of Tamaulipas in particular is considered one of the country’s most violent areas.

Matamoros has been a stronghold of many gangs, especially the Gulf Cartel, which has used the city as a key gateway for moving cocaine, meth and fentanyl across the border into Texas.

“Criminal groups target public and private passenger buses, as well as private automobiles traveling through Tamaulipas, often taking passengers and demanding ransom payments,” the State Department advisory says.

While the fate of four Americans who were kidnapped at gunpoint remain unknown, the US Ambassador to Mexico met with the Mexican president on Monday.

The FBI says the group of Americans were shot at while they crossed from Texas to Matamoros. The Americans were in a white minivan.

He added: “We thank our Mexican and U.S. law enforcement partners for their efforts to find these innocent victims and the task forward is to ensure that justice is done.”

“Clearly, we want to be really careful here. Jean-Pierre didn’t want to provide too much information on how we’re moving forward in order to protect privacy.

Neither the White House nor the FBI have disclosed further information about the circumstances of the attack beyond the FBI’s and the ambassador’s earlier statements.

The Two Dead Kidnapping Victims of Tameulipas: The U.S. Helps to Identify Them and Their Families

The Department of State warns Americans not to travel to the state because of the fact that criminals often target public and private passenger vehicles in their kidnappings.

The State Department said the Mexican government helped to bring back the two remaining victims. The department didn’t name them, but the mother of LaTavia Washington McGee confirmed she is at a Texas hospital and the wife of Eric James Williams said he was shot in the leg.

Ned Price said officials are in the process of returning the remains of the two remaining kidnapping victims, who were found dead in the border state ofTameulipas, where the group was attacked on Friday.

The governor of Mexico said that the bodies would be given to US officials by Tuesday evening.

We are providing assistance to them and their families. We want to offer our warmest sympathies to the family and loved ones of the deceased,” Price said.

When they have the definitive information regarding the news out of Mexico, U.S. officials will give more details.

Attorney General Merrick Garland offered his sympathies to the families of the Americans who were kidnapped during a speech at the Justice Department.

Mexican authorities have been more forthcoming with information about how the victims and their families were treated while in captivity.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/03/07/1161624147/kidnapped-americans-mexico-found-dead-injured

Sixteen Americans crossed the border into Matamoros from Lake City, S.C., in a white minivan with North Carolina plates

The group, who are all native of Lake City, S.C., according to the city’s mayor, had crossed over into the border city of Matamoros from Brownsville, Texas, in a white minivan with North Carolina plates.

The family and friends have said that the four went on the road trip so that one of them could get a tummy tuck. But after just two hours in the city, they got caught up in deadly gunfire.

Barrios Mojica said the shooters descended on the minivan at about 11:45 a.m. A Mexican national was killed in the attack. The FBI said the gunmen moved all four into another vehicle and fled the scene.

The kidnappers moved the group to several different locations in an effort to create confusion and foil the rescue efforts.

The attorney general of the state of Tamaulipas told the media on Tuesday that it looks like Americans were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Officials had little to share about the victims’ condition and whereabouts on Monday, though some hinted that the group had crossed the border either to buy medicines or undergo medical procedures.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/03/07/1161624147/kidnapped-americans-mexico-found-dead-injured

An elderly lady’s dream of losing a child is like a bad dream you wish you could wake up from,” she told a family member

“I asked her how she was doing. She is doing well. She was crying because her brother got killed and she watched him die. She watched two of them die. They passed away in front of her.

“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.”