Mexico City – Two of the four Americans kidnapped last Friday in Matamoros (northeast Mexico) were found dead yesterday, reported Mexican authorities, who suspect that the captors – presumed drug traffickers – confused them with other people.
The other two hostages were rescued alive and handed over to US authorities at the border bridge that joins the cities of Matamoros and Brownsville, while the deceased will be repatriated “in the next few hours” after the autopsy, indicated Américo Villarreal, state governor. from Tamaulipas.
One of the survivors, identified only as Eric N., suffered a gunshot wound to the leg, while a woman (Latavia N.) was unharmed, the governor said during a press conference with the military high command in Mexico City.
The US media identified them as Latavia Washington McGee and Eric James Williams.
The names of the deceased have not yet been released.
“The Department of Justice will be relentless in the pursuit of justice on your behalf,” warned US Attorney General Merrick Garland, quoted in a statement.
Meanwhile, the US ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, said in a statement that these events “are a tragic reminder” that both countries must “strengthen the fight against criminal organizations” on the border.
A man in charge of monitoring the victims was detained at the place where they were being held captive, a wooden house in the suburban area of Matamoros.
The handover of the survivors occurred in the midst of a vast device that involved some 20 vehicles including ambulances and vans from security agencies.
Mexican authorities believe the kidnappers belong to the Gulf Cartel and have mistaken the Americans for enemies. “The line (investigative) is being strengthened that it was a confusion, it was not a direct aggression. That is the line that we have now as the most viable and it is surely the most correct one”, assured the prosecutor of Tamaulipas, Irving Barrios, in the same conference.
However, he clarified that all the hypotheses remain open.
The Americans had arrived in Matamoros on Friday morning in a van that was attacked by shooters some two hours later, according to investigations revealed on Tuesday. A 33-year-old Mexican woman died near the scene, possibly the victim of a stray bullet, according to the investigations.
The governor of Tamaulipas stated that “there is no basis to think” that the victims had “some relationship” with the United States federal police (FBI), as was speculated on social networks.
According to the governor, the Americans were in Mexico because one of them was planning to have cosmetic surgery.
The Mexican officials avoided advancing hypotheses about the circumstances of the time and place in which the captives died.
“Once the autopsy is done, we will be able to determine the causes of death, the times and other” elements, the prosecutor said.
According to preliminary investigations, all the hostages were alive at least until Monday.
Villarreal said that the investigations to find the other criminals will be supported by the United States, which offered $50,000 to locate the victims and capture the kidnappers.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador lamented the death of the hostages. “We send our condolences to the families of the victims, to friends, to the people of the United States, to the United States government. We are going to continue doing our job to guarantee peace, tranquility, ”he said.
“Those responsible are going to be found, they are going to be punished, as was done when unfortunately the women and children of the LeBarón, Miller, and Langford families were murdered. Everyone involved has been detained,” she warned. She was referring to the massacre, in November 2019, of six minors and three women from a Mexican-American Mormon community, settled in the state of Sonora (north).
Mexico has accumulated some 350,000 homicides and tens of thousands of disappeared since a controversial anti-drug offensive was launched in 2006, with military participation and support from the United States.
Matamoros is one of the towns hardest hit by organized crime. In addition, the roads of Tamaulipas are considered among the most dangerous in Mexico.
Source: Ambito
