Two of the four Americans kidnapped in Mexico are dead, two alive: report

Two of the four US citizens abducted in Mexico have died while the other two are alive, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing Tamaulipas’ governor.

Tamaulipas Gov. Américo Villarreal said on Tuesday that one of the surviving Americans was injured and the other was not, while two of the four US citizens who had traveled to Mexico were found dead.

The FBI is still working to repatriate the missing Americans, who were kidnapped after being caught in the crossfire of a rival cartel shortly after crossing the US border with Mexico.

Dramatic video shows the moment four Americans were kidnapped shortly after crossing into Mexico in what authorities are calling a case of mistaken identity.

Video of the violent incident showed armed men in body armor dragging a man onto the sidewalk and pushing a woman into the bed of a white truck, then dragging two more men who appeared to be injured onto the sidewalk and placing them on the bed. But they are shown loading it. Same truck.

Photos from the scene show a white minivan with North Carolina plates riddled with bullet holes shortly after the abduction, with a woman who reportedly witnessed the attack telling The Associated Press that she saw the minivan before she heard gunshots. collided with another vehicle and saw armed men. Van.

“Suddenly they (the gunmen) were in front of us,” said the woman, who declined to be identified for fear of retaliation. “I went into a state of shock, no one honked, no one moved. Everyone must be thinking the same thing, ‘If we move they’ll see us, or they can shoot us.'”

First of four Americans kidnapped in Mexico identified

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, Friday, March 3, 2023. took. (AP Photo)

She said she saw the men force a woman who was able to walk into the bed of their truck, while another victim, who said she could move her head, was loaded into the truck.

“The other two they dragged onto the pavement, we don’t know whether they were alive or dead,” she said.

According to law enforcement, the group of Americans was traveling to Mexico last week for health services when the minivan they were driving was attacked by a group of armed men, who dragged the Americans out and loaded them into a truck. He fired shots at the vehicle before leaving. The four Americans were not believed to be the intended targets of the attack.

crossed the group Brownsville, Texas, In the Mexican city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, an area that has been plagued by cartel violence and a travel advisory from the State Department warning Americans to avoid visiting.

Mexican Natioanla guards prepare a search mission for four US citizens kidnapped by gunmen in Matamoros, Mexico. (AP Photo)

Four Americans Abducted in Mexico May Be Unwittingly Targeted: Report

One of the four Americans in the group, Zindell Brown, was identified by her sister, Zalandria Brown of Florence, South Carolinasaid Tuesday that he has been in contact with the FBI and Mexican authorities since the incident.

“It’s like a nightmare you wish you could wake up from,” Brown told The Associated Press. “To see a member of my family being thrown and dragged behind a truck, it’s unbelievable.”

Brown said her younger brother is from Myrtle Beach and was on his way to Mexico with three friends, one of whom was there to get tummy tuck surgery.

She said her brother was hesitant to make the trip, warning his friends about the dangers before going.

Mexican Army soldiers prepare a search operation for four American citizens kidnapped by gunmen in Matamoros, Mexico. (AP Photo)

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“Zindel said, ‘We shouldn’t go down,'” Brown said.

Odell William Brown, the victim’s father, said the family was shocked by the news.

“I don’t know which way to go right now,” he said. “We don’t know what that is.”

It is unclear whether Brown is one of the people who died in the incident.

The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the return of the victims and the arrest of those responsible.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report