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

[dotr]

 

[PrairieWind]

Mexican army soldiers prepare a search mission for four U.S. citizens kidnapped by gunmen at Matamoros, Mexico, Monday, March 6, 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

When four Americans were kidnapped in the border city of Matamoros, authorities rescued the survivors within days, but thousands of Mexicans remain missing in the state long associated with cartel violence — some in cases dating back more than a decade.

Mexican authorities quickly blamed the local Gulf cartel for shooting up the Americans' minivan after they crossed the border for cosmetic surgery Friday. They found the Americans — two dead, one injured and one apparently unharmed — early Tuesday after a massive search involving squads of Mexican soldiers and National Guard troops.

By contrast, more than 112,000 Mexicans remain missing nationwide, in many cases years or decades after they disappeared. Although a convoy of armored Mexican military trucks extracted the Americans, the only ones searching for most of the missing Mexicans are their desperate relatives.

"If these people had been Mexicans, they might still be disappeared," said Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, an associate professor at George Mason University.

Americans found quickly, but Mexico's missing remain lost

When four Americans were kidnapped in the border city of Matamoros, authorities rescued the survivors within days, but thousands of Mexicans remain missing in the state long associated with cartel violence — some in cases dating back more than a decade.

www.stripes.com

There seems to still be some discussion about what happened. Mistaken identity, caught in cross fire, etc. Doesn't really matter. It is sad, the part about if they were Mexican citizens no one would have looked. Its true.

 

[Cedars]

It is sad, the part about if they were Mexican citizens no one would have looked. Its true.

I agree. Fear of retribution, I think.

It's a very curious thing, that the last few years in Mexico there has been a huge amount of outrage about murders of women by ordinary men. For example, a case of a young woman murdered by an ex-boyfriend brought hundreds of protesters out to the street demanding justice. Huge headlines when he was arrested.

Violence against women in Mexico rises to over 70%, study finds

Violence against women and girls in Mexico has increased over the last five years, the statistics office said in a survey that found seven in 10 of them reported experiencing some form of violence.

www.reuters.com

So Mexicans are quite capable of demanding justice, when it's safe to do so.

JMO

 

[imstilla.grandma]

 

[mark majors]

I know my friends considering going to MX for surgery, were told to bring cash, after an initial wired deposit.

I wonder if this could be a set up or inside source at the clinic.
Moo...

how would they know what car is being driven?

 

[IceIce9]

Friend warned police Americans feared missing in Mexico

LAKE CITY, S.C. (AP) — The frantic effort to rescue four Americans taken captive in Mexico in a kidnapping that left two of them dead came after a fifth person traveling with the group contacted po…

ktla.com

LAKE CITY, S.C. (AP) — The frantic effort to rescue four Americans taken captive in Mexico in a kidnapping that left two of them dead came after a fifth person traveling with the group contacted police when they did not return to the U.S. side as expected.

Cheryl Orange, who did not cross into Mexico with the others, told The Associated Press in a text message that her three friends were supposed to return within 15 minutes after dropping off their companion, Latavia McGee, for cosmetic surgery in the Mexican border city of Matamoros on Friday.

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 8, 2023

Friend warned police Americans feared missing in Mexico

LAKE CITY, S.C. (AP) — The frantic effort to rescue four Americans taken captive in Mexico in a kidnapping that left two dead came after a woman traveling with the group contacted police when they …

ktla.com

[...]

Orange stayed behind at a motel in Brownsville, Texas, and said she grew concerned as the hours passed and she did not hear from the others.

The five friends had driven a rented minivan from South Carolina on Thursday to the southern tip of Texas, according to a police report based on Orange’s account. Four of them left Friday morning around 8 a.m. to go to Mexico.

[...]

Orange told police she didn’t cross the border because she didn’t have her identification. She said she could not provide additional details because she was awaiting a call from McGee, who was to be released from a hospital in Brownsville. The other wounded American, Eric Williams, was also being treated at the hospital for a gunshot wound to the leg.

[...]

 

[BeginnerSleuther]

I think that is probably a good possibility. The plan maybe was to capture them, interrogate and kill. Then when they realized they had the wrong people, just random Americans, no one wanted anything to do with it. Honestly, I'm surprised they didn't just kill them all and bury the bodies somewhere. I think the survivors are extremely lucky. I certainly hope they are ok.

They'll never be ok, IMO.

 

[al66pine]

MAR 8, 2023

Friend warned police Americans feared missing in Mexico

LAKE CITY, S.C. (AP) — The frantic effort to rescue four Americans taken captive in Mexico in a kidnapping that left two dead came after a woman traveling with the group contacted police when they …

ktla.com

[...]
Orange stayed behind at a motel in Brownsville, Texas, and said she grew concerned as the hours passed and she did not hear from the others.
The five friends had driven a rented minivan from South Carolina on Thursday to the southern tip of Texas, according to a police report based on Orange’s account. Four of them left Friday morning around 8 a.m. to go to Mexico...."
[...]
Orange told police she didn’t cross the border because she didn’t have her identification. She said she could not provide additional details because she was awaiting a call from McGee, [...]

snipped for focus @PommyMommy Thx for link & quotes.
Not directing this to you, but anyone.

Was Orange w the others from SC pt of origin?
Did she start 20+ hr., 1300 mi.+ driving trip w no ID?
Or maybe lost it?

Regardless, sad, sad, sad, a tragic series of events.

 

[PommyMommy]

snipped for focus @PommyMommy Thx for link & quotes.
Not directing this to you, but anyone.

Was Orange w the others from SC pt of origin?
Did she start 20+ hr., 1300 mi.+ driving trip w no ID?
Or maybe lost it?

Regardless, sad, sad, sad, a tragic series of events.

Yes, "The five friends had driven a rented minivan from South Carolina..." I don't know why she didn't have her ID - if she lost it along the way or left SC without it. MOO

Friend warned police Americans feared missing in Mexico​

 

[AliceInPain]

At least five men were left tied up in the street in Matamoros with a message from the cartel apologizing for the death of the two Americans and the Mexican woman.
The more I read the stranger it gets. imo.

It's in Spanish:
Entregan a presuntos responsables de secuestro de estadunidenses

 

[Chelly]

Apology letter claims cartel handed over men who killed Americans

Drug cartels have been known to issue communiques to intimidate rivals and authorities, but also at times like these to do some public relations work to try to smooth over situations.

www.cbs7.com

 

[NoSpoonFeeding]

At least five men were left tied up in the street in Matamoros with a message from the cartel apologizing for the death of the two Americans and the Mexican woman.
The more I read the stranger it gets. imo.

It's in Spanish:
Entregan a presuntos responsables de secuestro de estadunidenses

Oh my, they go into the backgrounds of the victims.

 

[Cedars]

Apology letter claims cartel handed over men who killed Americans

Drug cartels have been known to issue communiques to intimidate rivals and authorities, but also at times like these to do some public relations work to try to smooth over situations.

www.cbs7.com

I think everything in this case has become political, now. It's about what's going on between governments, between different cartels, between the legitimate authorities and cartels: "Optics". Everyone is issuing their version of a press release, including 5 men laid out in handcuffs with a cardboard sign.

JMO

 

[Gardenista]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1633893300879933442

 

[IceIce9]

Mexican officials, who say they are pursuing various lines of inquiry, drew up a brief document summarizing the abduction of the Americans and biographical information on them. The metadata of the digital document suggested it was created on Wednesday.

It included their names, birthdays and addresses, and details of criminal records. Among them were convictions for drug-related offenses against Brown and Woodard.

Brown was convicted twice in 2015 for possessing small amounts of marijuana or concentrated cannabis, records show.

The records also showed that Williams was in 2017 convicted for the manufacture and distribution of cocaine, though this was not mentioned in the Mexican document seen by Reuters.

Exclusive: Mexico probes possible drug motive for attack on four Americans -document

Mexican law enforcement agents are investigating the possibility that members of a drug cartel kidnapped four Americans last Friday thinking that they were encroaching on their turf.

www.reuters.com

 

[cvaldez1975]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1633893300879933442

i do feel like this was what originally thought. at the time she stated that, she had no idea where they were.

 

[cvaldez1975]

Mexican officials, who say they are pursuing various lines of inquiry, drew up a brief document summarizing the abduction of the Americans and biographical information on them. The metadata of the digital document suggested it was created on Wednesday.

It included their names, birthdays and addresses, and details of criminal records. Among them were convictions for drug-related offenses against Brown and Woodard.

Brown was convicted twice in 2015 for possessing small amounts of marijuana or concentrated cannabis, records show.

The records also showed that Williams was in 2017 convicted for the manufacture and distribution of cocaine, though this was not mentioned in the Mexican document seen by Reuters.

Exclusive: Mexico probes possible drug motive for attack on four Americans -document

Mexican law enforcement agents are investigating the possibility that members of a drug cartel kidnapped four Americans last Friday thinking that they were encroaching on their turf.

www.reuters.com

i dont think their rap sheet has anything to do with it.

 

[G.Keelie]

i do feel like this was what originally thought. at the time she stated that, she had no idea where they were.

I agree…I’m sure that when she realized there might be a problem and contacted police that the furthest thing from her mind was that they had possibly been kidnapped or killed. Hence, she mentioned them partying sometimes. I feel she was just interested in helping her friends any way she could, not that she was trying to out them.

I totally agree with @cvaldez75 that their criminal records were not important to the situation and shouldn’t behave been announced by the authorities.

 

[Erutan]

My .02 is that they were there for the medical procedure and that was all.

Two people are dead ... and their families will never get to see them smile or speak again, or stop over for a meal.
This is disrespectful to two murdered and two wounded people, one of them physically and the other emotionally.
Imagine being moved around to safe houses along with the bodies of people who were close to you.
Thrown around like garbage.
I think one article said one of the deceased was found outside of one of the sheds/safe houses ?
It boggles the mind.
M00.