Two of the four Americans kidnapped in Mexico have been found dead, while the other two were rescued alive, officials announced on Tuesday, March 7th.
The survivors — Eric James Williams and Latavia “Tay” McGee — have returned to the U.S., their families said.
The four Americans — Williams, McGee, Zindell Brown and McGee’s cousin Shaeed Woodard — arrived Friday morning in Matamoros, Mexico, which is in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas just south of Brownsville, Texas.
“Shortly after crossing into Mexico, unidentified gunmen fired upon the passengers in the vehicle,” the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City said. The Americans had been traveling in a white minivan.
“The gunmen herded the four U.S. citizens into another vehicle and fled,” the embassy said.
The Americans were not directly targeted, Attorney General of Tamaulipas, Irving Barrios, said at a news conference.
It “seems to be that it was a misunderstanding,” Barrios said.
Mexican investigators believe the kidnappers may have wrongly believed the Americans were rival human traffickers, a source close to the investigation told ABC News.
The two survivors were found Tuesday morning in a wooden house in the Lagunona area, outside of Matamoros, Mexican officials said at a news conference. One of the deceased was also found inside the house, and the second was found outside it, a source close to the investigation told ABC News.
Williams had a gunshot wound to his leg, said the governor of Tamaulipas, Américo Villarreal.
During the three days they were held, the Americans were transferred to various places, including a clinic, in order to create confusion and avoid rescue efforts, Villarreal said.
One person has been arrested. The 24-year-old suspect was in charge of looking after the victims inside the house where they were found, Mexican officials said.
One of the survivors, McGee, is a mother of five who traveled from South Carolina to Mexico for a cosmetic medical procedure.
Her mother, Barbara Burgess, told ABC News she “had to hold my heart” when the FBI came to her home on Tuesday with the news her daughter was alive.
