Map shows border community where Americans were killed, kidnapped in Mexico

Nate Chute, Austin American-Statesman
·2 min read
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Two Americans are dead and two others have been found alive after the group was kidnapped in Mexico, officials say.

The group crossed the border in Texas and disappeared after being caught in a crossfire between cartels near the border last week.

Officials have not identified the four American citizens, but family and friends said the group were tight-knit friends from South Carolina traveling to Mexico with the intent of undergoing a medical procedure.

Here's what we know about when and where the shooting and kidnapping took place.

Americans crossed border from Brownsville to Matamoros, then shooting began

On Friday, March 3, the group of friends were in a white minivan when they crossed the US-Mexico border. CNN reports that they traveled from South Carolina. They crossed from Brownsville, Texas, into the city of Matamoros in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas.

This map shows that communities sit right next to one another on the US-Mexican border:

According to the FBI, unidentified gunmen fired upon them while in the van "shortly after" they crossed the border.

The FBI says they were each placed into a pickup truck and taken from the scene by armed men. A video posted to social media captured the scene, with one person appearing alive and sitting up and others appearing dead or wounded, according to the Associated Press.

A woman driving in Matamoros who asked not to be identified told the AP that she witnessed the event, saying the white minivan was hit by another vehicle near an intersection and then shots were fired. She said another SUV then came up to the scene and several armed men hopped out.

“All of a sudden (the gunmen) were in front of us,” she said. “I entered a state of shock, nobody honked their horn, nobody moved. Everybody must have been thinking the same thing, ‘If we move they will see us, or they might shoot us.’”

Tamaulipas governor confirmed two Americans were killed

On Tuesday, March 7, officials confirmed two of the Americans were killed.

Tamaulipas Gov. Américo Villarreal confirmed the deaths by phone, saying details about the four missing Americans had been confirmed by prosecutors. He did not disclose additional details about the case.

A member of the Mexican security forces stands next to a white minivan with North Carolina plates and several bullet holes, at the crime scene where gunmen kidnapped four U.S. citizens who crossed into Mexico from Texas, Friday, March 3, 2023. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the four Americans were going to buy medicine and were caught in the crossfire between two armed groups after they had entered Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas, on Friday.

Americans in Mexico identified as friends by family

The four Americans have been identified as Latavia "Tay" McGee, Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown and Eric James Williams by family members.

Zalandria Brown said her brother, Zindell, and two friends had accompanied another friend on the trip. The third friend was traveling to Mexico for a tummy tuck surgery, Brown said. She said the group was extremely close and they all made the trip in part to help split up the driving duties. They were aware of the dangers in Mexico, she added, and her brother had expressed some misgivings.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Matamoros, Mexico: City where Americans killed seen on map