Both US and Mexican officials have confirmed that two of the Americans kidnapped by armed gunmen in Mexico last Friday have been found alive. It has also been confirmed that the two others traveling with them have died.
“All four Americans were placed in a vehicle and taken from the scene by armed men,” the FBI has stated. The bureau offered a $50,000 reward for the victims’ return and the arrest of the perpetrators.
A video was posted to social media on Friday, showing a group of men armed with assault rifles and wearing body armor loading four people into the bed of a pickup truck. One was obviously alive and sitting up, but the others were presumed dead or severely wounded.
Latavia Washington McGee and Eric Williams survived the kidnapping, according to an official close to the investigation. After they were found, the pair was taken to a Texas hospital for treatment. A Mexican government official said Washington McGee was found uninjured. Williams, however, was shot twice in one leg and once in the other, according to his wife, Michele WIlliams.
Zindell Brown and Shaeed Woddard, Latavia Washington’s cousin, have been found dead, a US official involved in the ongoing investigation reported to CNN. Their bodies are set to be examined by Mexican authorities before their remains are turned over to the US government.
It has been reported that the group from North Carolina was in Mexico seeking medical treatment when they were caught up in the middle of a shootout before being violently abducted by armed gunmen shortly after arriving in Matamoros, Mexico.
Washington and Williams have since returned to the United States and are recovering with their families.