Puerto Vallarta (PVDN) – The governor of Tamaulipas, Américo Villarreal, announced that the four people from the United States who were kidnapped on Friday, March 3 in Matamoros, have been located. It was reported that two of them were located alive and the other two were found dead.
In the morning conference this Tuesday, Villarreal Anaya confirmed through a phone call the location of Latavia McGee, Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown, and Erick James Williams.
Of the two living, one is reported to have head injuries. The names of the two dead among the four kidnapped victims have not been confirmed.
According to the report offered by the US authorities, on March 3, the four US citizens crossed into Matamoros aboard a white minivan with North Carolina license plates.
It is reported that the group was traveling to Mexico where one of the people traveling was to undergo cosmetic surgery, according to Latavia Tay McGee’s mother.
Barbara Burgess, 54, recalled that she asked her daughter Latavia not to travel to Mexico because she felt like it wasn’t safe, but she replied: “I’ll be fine, mom,” and then left with her friends.
She also revealed that she contacted her when she was already in Matamoros; her daughter told her that she was 15 minutes away from arriving at the doctor’s office. After that, she lost all communication with Latavia. The first reports indicate that the minivan in which the four US citizens were traveling was intercepted by armed civilians who threatened them and took them by force.
She indicated that after the kidnapping an agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation ( FBI ) visited her home to ask her about Eric James Williams, whom she recognized as the driver of the car, who had been hired by his daughter Latavia and her nephew Shaeed to travel to Mexico.
The woman confirmed to the FBI that the driver’s license found at the scene belonged to Williams, the driver. She said that she has not been able to communicate with his relatives because his numbers go to voicemail. In addition to her daughter and her nephew, a friend of the young woman was accompanying them.
Both the FBI and other federal agencies and Mexican police personnel began a joint investigation. In addition, the FBI issued a statement, through the Embassy and Consulates of the United States in Mexico, to request the help of the public, so that it is possible to identify those responsible for these acts.
Likewise, the FBI announced a reward of 50,000 dollars in exchange for information that would ensure the return of the victims to their homes, or that would help capture the alleged attackers.
So far, only one person has been arrested in connection to the kidnapping of four American citizens, although it was not detailed in which part of the state of Tamaulipas the US citizens were located. It is expected that during the day the State Prosecutor’s Office will release more information about the finding.
President López Obrador expressed his condolences for these events and acknowledged that the White House “has the right to demonstrate” as it did at the time. “It is very unfortunate (…) We do not want that (…) We are very sorry that this is happening in our country and we send our condolences to the families of the victims, friends, people, and government of the United States,” he said.
Puerto Vallarta (PVDN) - The governor of Tamaulipas, Américo Villarreal, announced that the four people from the United States who were kidnapped on Friday, March . . .
