Authorities on Tuesday searched for four Americans who were shot by gunmen and abducted shortly after crossing the border into northern Mexico last week, as more details about the victims emerged.
The FBI has offered a $50,000 reward for the safe return of four Americans who were abducted Friday after driving in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, south of Brownsville, Texas.
Dramatic footage showing a gunman dragging people into a white pickup truck captured the kidnapping, a law enforcement source with knowledge of the matter confirmed.
Authorities have not yet identified the missing Americans.
One of the victims was identified as Latavia Washington McGee by her cousin, Aliyah McLeod, who is serving as a family spokeswoman.
McCleod said the group was from South Carolina, but they were traveling in a rental vehicle with North Carolina license plates when they entered Matamoros. The FBI confirmed that the group was traveling in a white minivan with North Carolina plates.
McCludt said that the group had traveled to Mexico for a “medical procedure”. She said her family was pleading for the group’s safe return.
A law enforcement official with knowledge of the matter said one of the women in the group was seeking a cosmetic medical procedure. He said cartel gunmen had targeted the group in a case of mistaken identity.
Zalandria Brown of Florence, South Carolina, told The Associated Press that her younger brother Zindel Brown was among the four victims. She said she was in contact with the FBI and local authorities when she learned that her brother had been kidnapped.
“It’s like a nightmare you wish you could wake up to,” she told the news agency. “To see a member of my family being thrown and dragged behind a truck, it’s unbelievable.”
Zalandria Brown said her brother, who lives in Myrtle Beach, went on a trip with a friend who was traveling to Mexico for a procedure.
Speaking at a news briefing in Washington on Monday, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said the Biden administration was “closely following the attack and kidnapping of four American citizens.”
“These types of attacks are unacceptable,” he said, adding that US law enforcement was in contact with Mexican authorities, as were the Department of State and Homeland Security.
“We will continue to coordinate with Mexico and press them to bring those responsible to justice,” Jean-Pierre said.
The US ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, said in a statement on Monday that an “innocent Mexican citizen tragically died” during the abduction.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador told a daily news conference that the Americans were in the country to buy the drug, a common practice for people seeking cheaper drugs at the southern border.
The FBI and Mexican law enforcement are investigating, with the FBI seeking information from the public leading to an arrest. Anyone with information is urged to call the San Antonio Division of the FBI at 210-225-6741.
The State Department has issued a “do not travel” warning for the state of Tamaulipas due to “crime and kidnapping”. It states that organized crime activity, including gun battles, armed robberies, and kidnappings, are common along the northern border and in Ciudad Victoria.
“Criminal groups target public and private passenger buses as well as private automobiles traveling through Tamaulipas, often carrying passengers and making ransom demands,” the alert said.