Recovered/Located MEXICO - 4 Americans missing, feared kidnapped in Matamoros, Mexico, 3 Mar 2023

[Erutan]

I watched the video, it appears that maybe two of the people are not alive, they were shown being dragged and carried (by 2 men) and tossed into the back of a pickup truck. It is being stated (online in some news stories on Facebook) that they were perhaps targeted by mistake (by cartel members) and were not the intended targets.

I see that CNN is now reporting the same.... https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/06/americas/fbi-mexico-kidnapping-us-citizens/index.html

Bolding mine.
Yeah, I'm going to take that bit with a grain of salt.

If the shooters thought they were Haitian drug smugglers, all they had to do was to look at the license plate or ask to see the victim's drivers licenses ?
My guess is that the kidnappers were looking to score a ransom payout.

This is so disgusting.
The four were innocent people who did nothing wrong.
Hoping the injured one survives and my utmost condolences to the relatives of the deceased.
M00.

 

[Soulmagent]

I have concerns about the "mistaken identity" term. Is this supposed to mitigate the seriousness of the kidnapping?

The whole portrayal of events is concerning . This could be because the events maybe unrelated to the Americans who where the victims but the mistake that lead us to this point might -be something much more nefarious than even this case. And the cartel thought it important to let the bodies be found as an oops..we went to far this this time ..our bad ,here have em? Diffidently odd ,unless there are deals in place with the cartels ,and it does look to be the case.

 

[CrimeDawg123]

I have concerns about the "mistaken identity" term. Is this supposed to mitigate the seriousness of the kidnapping?

Exactly. I'm very curious who the investigators are that supposedly made this claim. If it was an attempt to mitigate the seriousness or to appease certain people (i.e. Americans) then it is offensive in its callousness.

 

[Hope32]

Bolding mine.
Yeah, I'm going to take that bit with a grain of salt.

If the shooters thought they were Haitian drug smugglers, all they had to do was to look at the license plate or ask to see the victim's drivers licenses ?
My guess is that the kidnappers were looking to score a ransom payout.

This is so disgusting.
The four were innocent people who did nothing wrong.
Hoping the injured one survives and my utmost condolences to the relatives of the deceased.
M00.

Cartel's don't play by the rules as far as I know. It's typically shot first and look later. There is also the fact they were thought to be Haitian Drug smugglers, but they could have rented a car in America or be the middle men that live in the US or fake licenses'. Needless to say the Cartel's just don't care sadly.

 

[Erutan]

Exactly. I'm very curious who the investigators are that supposedly made this claim. If it was an attempt to mitigate the seriousness or to appease certain people (i.e. Americans) then it is offensive in its callousness.

ITA.

 

[Soulmagent]

Cartel's done play by the rules as far as I know. It's typically shot first and look later. There is also the fact they were thought to be Haitian Drug smugglers, but they could have rented a car in America or be the middle men that live in the US or fake licenses'. Needless to say the Cartel's just don't care sadly.

A cartel normally does this to send messages. This one is like a group message , the message wasn't meant for America ,who seems to have been an unintentionally received. They aren't above sending one to the USA they just didn't mean for this one to be a message for them.IMO. That I think is why the bodies were returned . I think this signals and issue within that cartel as well. More people probably died over this . We will not here about it but we may get an arrest but it will be an illusion imo.

 

[Simply Southern]

Bolding mine.
Yeah, I'm going to take that bit with a grain of salt.

If the shooters thought they were Haitian drug smugglers, all they had to do was to look at the license plate or ask to see the victim's drivers licenses ?
My guess is that the kidnappers were looking to score a ransom payout.

This is so disgusting.
The four were innocent people who did nothing wrong.
Hoping the injured one survives and my utmost condolences to the relatives of the deceased.
M00.

I'm shocked they took the rental into MX.

Spending lots of time in LA for work, we would rent a car and travel to Tijuana to shop. Best I remember it required special insurance to enter MX. We always parked at the border parking lot and walked across.
Moo...

 

[Simply Southern]

I do think having an Americian vehicle made them a target. Moo.:.

 

[citizen_sleuth]

I'm shocked they took the rental into MX.

Spending lots of time in LA for work, we would rent a car and travel to Tijuana to shop. Best I remember it required special insurance to enter MX. We always parked at the border parking lot and walked across.
Moo...

They probably took the car to Mexico to transport the woman to their hotel/Airbnb after her surgery.

There are services that cater to foreigners traveling to Mexico for cosmetic surgery which serve as 'recovery centers' that provide transport to/from the surgical center as well as a room in a facility with nursing staff for a few days after surgery (certain procedures like Brazilian butt lifts have longer recovery times that make traveling home immediately after the procedure difficult and dangerous), but since in this case the person getting the surgery was accompanied by a group of friends, they probably were not using one of these services and instead planned to stay in Mexico and look after her while she recovered.

 

[Ceska]

Of the 2 survivors, one wounded, one unharmed.
Americans kidnapped in Mexico found; 2 dead, 1 hurt and 1 unharmed, official says

I am wondering if the one who was unharmed is the female victim.
Also assuming that the 2 deceased victims of this awful attack were the 2 gentlemen who were “limp” in the original video. Thinking they succumbed to the gun shots during the initial attack. What a horrific tragedy.

ETA - after watching the short and blurred video, the perpetrators do not appear to be in any hurry to carry out this crime. They seem very relaxed in their movements, no rushing or urgency from what I can tell. That says a lot….maybe the criminals were very well practiced in this maneuver, and/or they felt very comfortable carrying this out in full daylight view of cameras and passer-bys, one who died as a result. It is very concerning, though not surprising, that this sort of thing happens so close to us.

The drug cartels in Mexico are brutal and have been for a very long time. They know that no one is going to interfere so they took their time. <modsnip: not victim friendly> In the video the female victim appeared to be unharmed. The fact that their car was rammed before they were shot at sort of makes me think that they were targeted and the theory of mistaken identity sort of seems to make sense.

 

[sds71]

Kidnapped Americans got lost while trying to find their way to the doctor's office, friend says​

“When I reached out to the doctor’s office they told me that Latavia had reached out to them to ask them for directions because she was lost," the friend said. "They sent me a screenshot of the messages and they said they sent her the address and asked her if she was using a GPS.”

She also said that the office employee she spoke with told her that Washington McGee also messaged the doctor’s office from her friend’s phone, but the office employee didn’t notice the message until a few hours later.

The two surviving American citizens kidnapped in Mexico are now in the care of the FBI and have returned to the United States, an official familiar with the investigation tells CNN.

The two will receive medical treatment and observations at a hospital in Texas, the source added

March 7, 2023 - 2 Americans dead, 2 found alive in Mexico kidnapping

Two of the four Americans who authorities say were kidnapped in Mexico have been found dead, according to the Tamaulipas governor. One of the two survivors is severely injured, a US official said.

www.cnn.com

 

[Ceska]

Bolding mine.
Yeah, I'm going to take that bit with a grain of salt.

If the shooters thought they were Haitian drug smugglers, all they had to do was to look at the license plate or ask to see the victim's drivers licenses ?
My guess is that the kidnappers were looking to score a ransom payout.

This is so disgusting.
The four were innocent people who did nothing wrong.
Hoping the injured one survives and my utmost condolences to the relatives of the deceased.
M00.

<modsnip: not victim friendly> As for the license plates, drug smugglers will use any means of sneaking around, including stolen vehicles and odd license plates to throw off the cartels or try to blend in, so I doubt having a NC plate would have made a difference, I imagine those responsible for the deaths zeroed in on what the people in the car looked like.

 

[Soulmagent]

I do think having an Americian vehicle made them a target. Moo.:.

American plates you mean?
Supposedly they were not the target . If the plate made them a target ,that would mean they were targeted ? I believe they didn't look at the plates or read them ,and I am not sure North Carolina plates would stand out ,but Every one was from South Carolina Myrtle beach I thought .

 

[10ofRods]

I have concerns about the "mistaken identity" term. Is this supposed to mitigate the seriousness of the kidnapping?

I think, in Mexico, people feel better if they know it was a specific drug cartel and that it was drug-related (and not some other, new form of crime).

I hope this doesn't sound awful, but the way I'm reading this case, the "mistaken identity" was merely that some local "cartel members" (possibly of the wannabe type), saw people of a particular ethnicity that they thought might be "Haitian." I would guess that rumors of Haitian drug dealers competing in Mexico are rife.

And, we have two different stories emerging. One is that there was some kind of shoot-out between two drug gangs and the tourists were just caught in the middle (and some of them kidnapped!) This seems to be the later emerging story but I can't really tell.

The other is that the people in the van were mistaken for Haitian drug dealers (and that the Gulf Cartel is involved).

Knowing Mexico as I do, I'd say that reporting and police reports leave a lot to be desired. Many articles lack a byline and end with "creen" or start with "creen que" (it is believed that - followed by the subjective tense, meaning, "it is believed that the Gulf Cartel would be involved." Another way of saying, "Maybe it happened this way." I am not saying that this is the case about all reports in this case, I don't know (I haven't looked up the Spanish versions) but I am saying that if there are conflicting accounts, that's quite normal throughout North America, and Mexico is no exception.

IMO.

 

[azure]

The psychological damage to the survivors must be unimaginable. Being shot or shot at, watching your close friends die, and being kidnapped by a ruthless cartel has to be one of the most horrific experiences a person can undergo. I hope in addition to excellent medical care they also receive comprehensive psychological care.

 

[dotr]

Maybe the shooters did think it was people from Haiti considering the number who migrated there in recent times, although odd considering the car's plates were American, imo. speculation.
rbbm.

February 6, 2022​

‘I’d Rather Die Than Go Back’

Haitian women recount risky journeys to find safety abroad. Many face bureaucratic delays upon arrival and the prospect of getting sent back to a country they've fled.

globalpressjournal.com

''TAPACHULA, MEXICO — Fernanda sits on a bench while her 2-year-old daughter plays nearby. They live in a rented room in Tapachula, in the state of Chiapas, Mexico, in a house with more than 20 people. Most of them, like Fernanda, are from Haiti. “The end of the world is beginning over there in Haiti,” she says.

Fernanda was a student when she left Haiti in 2007. She traveled to the Dominican Republic, then Chile, where she struggled to find work. She moved on to Mexico.

She is one of nearly 52,000 migrants from Haiti who has fled the country and filed refugee applications in Mexico last year, an almost 800% increase from 2020. The country has long been a place of origin, transit and destination for people who hope to make it to the United States. Fernanda just dreams of getting the paperwork she needs to secure a job in Mexico and support her daughter. She has no plans to go home to Haiti, a country she says is too dangerous.''

 

[Ceska]

This would be a good time for the U.S. State Department, and media, to warn/educate Americans how dangerous it is in Mexico. I had watched a documentary, not all that long ago, how Mexican drug cartels kidnap people and force them to work for them (not to mention the kidnappings for ransom). Hoping we see more things like that come out to further warn/educate people. There are several drug cartels in Mexico, and it is only getting worse. It used to be that travel to the resorts in the Yucatan peninsula were considered fairly safe, but that is no longer.

 

[IceIce9]

<modsnip: quoted post was removed>

2 kidnapped Americans found dead in Mexico, 2 survivors have returned to the US; victims identified: Updates

Two of four Americans missing since their abduction after crossing the border into Mexico have been found dead; two others are alive. Updates.

www.usatoday.com

They were aware of the dangers. Per the article:

Brown 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.

“Zindell kept saying, ‘We shouldn’t go down,’” Brown said.''

 

[IceIce9]

This would be a good time for the U.S. State Department, and media, to warn/educate Americans how dangerous it is in Mexico. I had watched a documentary, not all that long ago, how Mexican drug cartels kidnap people and force them to work for them (not to mention the kidnappings for ransom). Hoping we see more things like that come out to further warn/educate people. There are several drug cartels in Mexico, and it is only getting worse. It used to be that travel to the resorts in the Yucatan peninsula were considered fairly safe, but that is no longer.

Already was on the “Do Not Travel” list, updated in February.

Which parts of Mexico are on the ‘do not travel’ list?

Ahead of the busy winter break and spring break travel season, the U.S. Department of State has issued a “do not travel” warning for parts of Mexico.

thehill.com

 

[Ceska]

Risk Map 2023 Analysis: Mexico Cartel War

Read a situational update of the cartel violence in Mexico, the primary actors, and the potential global impact in this intel briefing.

www.globalguardian.com

Interesting article about the specific cartels... locations and etc. Cartel attacks on local businesses, and so on.

"The drug war in Mexico is one of the most violent conflicts on the planet with cartel activity permeating through many levels of the Mexican economy and society. Cartel conflicts continue to drive violence across Mexico, including tourist areas previously less affected, such as Cancun and Puerto Vallarta. Inter-cartel violence can impact and disrupt travel, worksites, and supply chains.".