Two of the four Americans kidnapped by armed gunmen in the Mexico border city of Matamoros on Friday were found dead and two were found alive on Tuesday, US and Mexican officials said.
Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown were found dead, a US official familiar with the ongoing investigation. Their bodies will be examined by Mexican authorities prior to their remains being turned over to the US government, the official said.
Videos of them being dragged and thrown into the back of a truck sparked an investigation and $50,000 reward from the FBI.
President Obrador claims American media coverage has sensationalized the killing and kidnapping by making Mexico out to be an aggressor, ruthlessly slaying American tourists.
“It’s not like that when they kill Mexicans in the United States, they (the media) go quiet like mummies. Black lives are also just as much in danger within the country they were born as they are across the border.”
President Obrador said
LaTavia “Tay” McGee had taken a trip to get a tummy tuck procedure with her cousin Shaeed Woodard and friends Zindell Brown and Eric James Williams. McGee’s mother saidshe warned her daughter not to go and alas, her motherly instinct that something terrible could happen was proven correct.
On the day of the appointment, McGee called her mother 15 minutes ahead of arriving at her appointment. She and the three men were driving in a white rental minivan when they were rushed by a group of gunmen who shot at their vehicle. Woodard and Brown were killed but all four were taken into another vehicle.
Mexican state official Gov. Américo Villarreal said the group was transported to a series of locations upon being kidnapped to confuse and interrupt the rescue process. Eventually, they were found in a wooden shack, guarded by a 24-year-old captor who was arrested.
The two survivors were transported over the border through Texas and escorted by the Mexican military and National Guard. The two deceased will be returned to the families following a forensics exam by the morgue in Matamoros, Mexico.
