UPDATED 7:21 A.M.
MATAMOROS, Mexico (Reuters) -Two of four Americans kidnapped by gunmen on Friday just after they drove into northeastern Mexico have been found dead, U.S. and Mexican officials said on Tuesday, in a grim reminder of the lawlessness plaguing parts of the border region.
The survivors and the two bodies were discovered by Mexican security forces on Tuesday morning in a wood cabin southeast of the border city of Matamoros, said Americo Villarreal, governor of Tamaulipas, the state the four crossed into from Texas.
Authorities were still investigating how the two Americans died, and one Mexican official said the most likely explanation for the group’s abduction was a case of mistaken identity.
One of the two surviving Americans suffered a gunshot wound to his leg that was not life-threatening, while the other, a woman, was not injured, Villarreal told a news conference.
A Mexican woman, 33, also died during the kidnapping ordeal, apparently from a stray bullet, he said.
A 24-year-old man guarding them at the cabin was arrested at the scene. Before they were found, the four had been moved to a succession of locations in the area, including a local clinic in a bid to throw law enforcement off the trail, Villarreal said.
“We’re very sorry to have this happen in our country and we send our condolences to the families of the victims, their friends, to the people of the United States,” President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told an earlier news conference.
Mexican officials on Tuesday morning handed the survivors to U.S. officials at the border, and the two bodies were to follow in the next few hours, Villarreal said. The U.S. State Department confirmed two Americans had returned to the United States.
Mexican officials pledged to work with the U.S. to find the perpetrators, but the incident threw a harsh spotlight on gang violence in Mexico and sparked angry reactions from some U.S. lawmakers critical of Mexican efforts to fight crime.
The four Americans were in a white minivan when they entered Matamoros on Friday. Gunmen fired at them soon afterwards and then forced them into another vehicle, officials said.
A video circulating on social media purportedly of the kidnapping showed a woman being walked towards a white pickup truck by a group of men with body armor and guns. She was forced into the back before the men dragged in two prone figures.
Tamaulipas is one of Mexico’s most gang-ravaged states and has long been plagued by the kidnapping of migrants.
ABC News on Monday named the four Americans as Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown, Latavia McGee and Eric James Williams. A Tamaulipas official identified the last two as the survivors.
Williams was receiving treatment in hospital in Brownsville, Texas, across the border from Matamoros, the official said.
MILITARY THREAT
U.S. Republicans, in particular, have been pushing for the U.S. government to take a tougher line on organized crime south of the border amid rising overdose deaths caused by fentanyl, a synthetic opioid trafficked by Mexican cartels.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham on Monday said it was time to “put Mexico on notice,” advocated introducing legislation to classify some Mexican drug cartels as “foreign terrorist groups”, and set the stage to use military force if necessary.
“I would tell the Mexican government if you don’t clean up your act, we’re going to clean it up for you,” he told Fox News.
White House spokesman John Kirby condemned the incident in Tamaulipas. “Attacks on U.S. citizens are unacceptable, no matter where,” he told a news briefing.
Tamaulipas Attorney General Irving Barrios told the conference with Villarreal that the Gulf Cartel was known to operate in the area but stopped short of explicitly blaming it.
Barrios said the Americans were likely mistaken for somebody else when abducted but noted authorities were still pursuing several lines of investigation.
Tamaulipas officials said McGee was traveling with the group to Mexico to get cosmetic surgery.
Mexican President Lopez Obrador vowed to bring the killers to justice. But he lashed out at what he cast as “tabloid” coverage of the incident and accused the media of not giving the same attention to killings of Mexicans in the United States.
(Reporting by Dave Graham and Brendan O’Boyle; Additional reporting by Lizbeth Diaz and Kylie Madry in Mexico City, and David Shepardson, Steve Holland, Andrea Shalal and Susan Heavey in Washington D.C.;Editing by Stephen Eisenhammer, Susan Fenton, Deepa Babington and Cynthia Osterman)
UPDATED 3:07 P.M.
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Two of four Americans kidnapped by gunmen on Friday after they drove into northeast Mexico have been found dead, and the two survivors have returned to the United States, the local government said on Tuesday.
“Of the four, two of them have died, there’s one person injured, and the other person is alive,” Americo Villarreal, governor of the border state of Tamaulipas where the four crossed into, said on a call with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador as the latter held a daily news conference.
Later, Tamaulipas’ Attorney General Irving Barrios said on Twitter that the two surviving Americans had been handed over to U.S. officials at the border with Texas. A Mexican official told Reuters the lone woman in the group was not injured.
The kidnappings have put a harsh spotlight on U.S. concerns over widespread gang violence in Mexico.
Republicans, in particular, have been pushing for the U.S. government to take a tougher line on organized crime south of the border amid rising overdose deaths caused by fentanyl, a synthetic opioid trafficked by Mexican cartels.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham on Monday said it was time to “put Mexico on notice,” and advocated introducing legislation to classify some Mexican drug cartels as “foreign terrorist groups”, and set the stage to use military force if necessary.
“I would tell the Mexican government if you don’t clean up your act, we’re going to clean it up for you,” he told Fox News.
ABC News on Monday named the four Americans as Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown, Latavia “Tay” McGee and Eric James Williams – with the last two named by a Tamaulipas official as the survivors.
Williams was receiving treatment in hospital in Brownsville, Texas, which is across the border from Matamoros, the city in Tamaulipas where the four had entered Mexico, the official said. CNN said one of the four Americans was seriously injured.
The four were in a white minivan when they entered Matamoros on Friday. Gunmen fired on them shortly after they crossed into Mexico and then herded them into another vehicle before fleeing the scene, the U.S. embassy in Mexico said. A Mexican bystander was also killed when the abduction took place, authorities said.
U.S. media have reported that McGee was traveling with the group to Mexico to get cosmetic surgery.
The U.S. government was working with Mexican officials to find out more about the kidnapping and to get the victims home, White House spokesman John Kirby said.
“Attacks on U.S. citizens are unacceptable, no matter where,” he told a news briefing.
Lopez Obrador expressed his “sincere condolences” and said one person was in custody over the kidnapping in Tamaulipas, which has long been one of the most violent, gang-ridden states in Mexico. He pledged to bring the perpetrators to justice.
But he lashed out at what he cast as “tabloid” coverage of the incident, and accused the media of not giving the same attention to killings of Mexicans in the United States.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland also offered his condolences and said he had been briefed by the FBI on the matter. He did not comment on reports of the deaths.
(Reporting by Dave Graham and Brendan O’Boyle; Additional reporting by Lizbeth Diaz in Mexico City, and David Shepardson, Steve Holland and Susan Heavey in Washington D.C.editing by Stephen Eisenhammer, Susan Fenton and Deepa Babington)
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MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Two of four Americans who went missing on Friday in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas are alive, and two are dead, the state governor said Tuesday on a call with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador during a news conference.
ABC News reported the four people kidnapped were Latavia “Tay” McGee, Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown, and Eric James Williams.
Separately, a Mexican official told Reuters on Tuesday that two men had been found dead. The woman and another man were alive, safe and in the hands of authorities, the official said.
Tamaulipas Governor Americo Villarreal told Lopez Obrador on the call that one of the survivors was injured.
Lopez Obrador said one person was in custody in relation to the kidnapping.
(Reporting by Brendan O’Boyle and Dave Graham; editing by Stephen Eisenhammer)
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