Suspect arrested in Mexico in connection with kidnapping, murder of Americans

Mexican authorities have arrested a suspect in connection with the kidnapping of four US citizens, two of whom were killed.

Jose Guadalupe N., 24, was guarding the house where cartel members had held and tortured four Americans — Latavia “Tai” McGee, Eric James Williams, Shaid Woodard, and Zindell Brown.

Authorities have not disclosed whether Guadalupe, a Mexican national, is part of the Gulf Cartel, the gang accused of the kidnapping, which operates in the region.

The victims were discovered Tuesday in a wooden shack in Ejido Tecolote, a rural area east of the Mexican city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, according to Tamaulipas state chief prosecutor Irving Barrios. When the Americans were found, Woodward and Brown were killed.

Four Americans Abducted in Mexico: What We Know

24-year-old Jose Guadalupe N. Was guarding the house where four Americans were held captive and tortured by members of the cartel. (Getty)

Survivors McGee and Williams were taken with a law enforcement escort over the Veterans International Bridge to Brownsville, Texas. He was taken to Valley Regional Medical Center in Brownsville for treatment.

Williams was shot in the left leg, but his injuries were not life-threatening, Tamaulipas Gov. Americo Villarreal said.

The fourth victim was not injured.

Two of four Americans abducted in Mexico dead, two alive: report

A Red Cross worker closes the door of an ambulance carrying two Americans found alive after being kidnapped in Mexico. (AP Photo)

According to relatives, four Americans from South Carolina had crossed the southern border to McGee to have tummy tuck operations.

They were crossing from Brownsville into Matamoros on Friday and were just entering Mexico when their vehicle was fired upon. The group had come under crossfire between rival cartel gangs.

A member of Mexican security forces stands next to a white minivan with North Carolina plates and multiple bullet holes at the crime scene where gunmen kidnapped four US citizens entering Mexico from Texas. (AP Photo)

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Armed men believed to be members of a Mexican drug cartel pushed the victims at gunpoint into the back of a white truck, with two of the victims appearing injured or dead as their bodies were dragged across the sidewalk.

Guadalupe is the only person arrested so far in connection with the kidnapping and murder of the Americans, but investigators are still searching for other attackers.

The FBI offered a $50,000 reward for the return of the victims and the arrest of the kidnappers.