Four American citizens drove to Mexico. Two came back alive.
Two of the four Americans who were kidnapped and caught in a shootout in the Mexican city of Matamoros on Friday, March 3 have been safely returned to the United States.
The four Americans went to Mexico for one of the women to have a cosmetic procedure when they were caught in the crossfire between rival drug gangs. Two of the Americans were killed in the attack, and two others were taken hostage for several days before being rescued.
On Friday, as members of rival drug cartels fought it out in the streets of Matamoros, four Americans in a white minivan were met with heavy gunfire not long after crossing the border.
In Mexico, they were shot and then thrown into the back of a pickup truck. It was a case of mistaken identity, according to the Mexican authorities.
Two of the four Americans who were killed were identified by members of their families.
LaTavia Washington McGhee, Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown, and Eric Williams were all traveling to Mexico for a “tummy tuck” for McGhee when they were ambushed.
On Friday, a disturbing video showing the four Americans being forced into a pickup truck began circulating online. Only one of the women appeared to be alive, and one of the men showed signs of movement.
While the cartel shuffled them around and then took them to a clinic, Mexican authorities searched for them.
On Tuesday, March 7, police located them in a makeshift wooden shack in the rural community of Ejido Tecolote, located east of Matamoros. The man who was protecting them was detained by Mexican authorities.
Both LaTavia McGhee and Eric Williams made it through, but Williams was shot in the left leg. On Tuesday, they arrived back in the United States and were taken to Valley Regional Medical Center in Brownsville for treatment.
The bodies of Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown, who were fatally wounded in the assault, will be returned to the United States after forensic analysis in Mexico.
Thousands of Mexicans have vanished in the state of Tamaulipas alone as a direct result of the drug wars that have raged in Matamoros between rival factions of the Gulf drug cartel.