MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican and US authorities said on Monday they were working to find four Americans who were shot by gunmen in northern Mexico and then abducted shortly after crossing the border.
The four Americans were in a white minivan with North Carolina license plates when they entered Matamoros, Tamaulipas, on Friday, the US Embassy in Mexico said, seeking the public’s help in identifying the kidnappers.
The gunmen fired at the passengers shortly after their vehicle crossed into Mexico and then bundled them into another vehicle before fleeing the scene, the embassy said.
An innocent Mexican was killed in the incident, US Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar said in a statement.
A Mexican official told Reuters that three men and a woman were kidnapped, although authorities have not released their identities.
ABC News reported that the four were Latavia “Tay” McGee, Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown, and Eric James Williams. ABC spoke to McGee’s mother, who said McGee was traveling with the group from South Carolina to Mexico to undergo cosmetic surgery.
NBC News, citing a law enforcement source, also reported that the group was traveling to undergo cosmetic surgery.
Earlier in the day, the president of Mexico said that the Americans had crossed into Mexico to buy medicine.
“I think it will be resolved, I hope so,” President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said at a regular news conference, adding that Mexico’s Ministry of Public Security was working with the FBI to find the missing Americans.
The US State Department has advised Americans not to travel to Tamaulipas, in part because of the threat of kidnapping. The city of Matamoros is on the border with Brownsville, Texas.
Speaking at a regular news briefing in Washington, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said US law enforcement was in contact with Mexican authorities, as were the Departments of State and Homeland Security.
“Our thoughts are with the families of these individuals and we stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance,” he said. “We will continue to coordinate with Mexico and press them to bring those responsible to justice.”
The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for the return of the four and the arrest of those involved.